The Friarage

The Friarage is a building dating from around 1770, located on the site of a Dominican Friary and possibly incorporating some masonry from an earlier house. It is constructed of stone and stucco, featuring a stone balustraded parapet with urn finials. The roof is hipped and has a double span covered with large Welsh slates, along with two stuccoed stacks in the valley. The building has a stone plinth and stands three storeys tall.

The entrance front has seven windows arranged in a 2:3:2 pattern, featuring early 19th-century sash windows with glazing bars set in moulded architraves with projecting cills. The central entrance includes a Victorian door with a Gothic fanlight, framed by a rusticated surround and sheltered by a prostyle Doric porch. Other elevations display similar features, but the irregular back suggests that there have been multiple phases of construction.

The north wing, which served as former domestic offices, may be older than the main house and is made of both rubble and painted brick, with a Victorian interior. Inside, much of the original woodwork remains, including doors and windows with enriched architraves, elliptical arches over corridors, and a notable staircase featuring three turned balusters, with the middle one twisted. Each baluster has crisply carved quadrooned collars with foliage below. The interior also includes dado panelling and some original plaster cornices, many of which have been restored. The Friarage was the home of the Meynell family, who were prominent local recusants and played a significant role in promoting the Stockton and Darlington Railway.