Olde English Tea House and associated gate piers in Sunnyhurst Wood

Olde English Tea House and Associated Gate Piers, Sunnyhurst Wood

The Olde English Tea House was built in 1911–12 for Darwen Corporation by architect R W Smith Saville. It is constructed of coursed sandstone with stone slate roof coverings and features extensive mock timbering throughout its interior.

The building is rectangular in plan, facing south, with a central main entrance and side gable entrances sheltered by east and west verandas. It is set on a terrace cut into the steeply wooded slope behind, overlooking an ornamental lake with cascades and carved stone bridges at either end (Grade II listed). All windows have timber mullions with leaded glass, either in square or lozenge form.

The main south elevation has five bays arranged over two storeys beneath a pitched roof of stone slates. Carved stone finials flank either end of the roof, and a ridge chimney rises at the right end. The narrow central bay contains the main entrance, which has a canopied head supported by rustic angle braces and a lean-to roof. The entrance door is original, a five-panelled door with glazed upper parts. Above this on the first floor is a three-light timber mullioned window with lozenge-shaped leaded glass.

The bays flanking the central entrance are full-height canted bay windows that rise through the eaves to dormer level, each topped by a pyramidal roof with carved stone finials above the main ridge. The right canted bay has two tiers of windows, each of six lights, separated by panels of mock pargetting with lozenge design. The left canted bay has three tiers of identical windows, all with leaded glass, and the central pair of lights in the central tier contains stained glass. The left end bay features a full-height square-headed cross window with leaded glass, and a carved stone grotesque has been built into the wall below it. The right end bay contains a ground floor timber mullioned window with lozenge-shaped leaded glass, and above it a large commemorative stone is set into the wall.

The right gable displays mock half-timbering to its apex, with a pair of two-light mullioned windows below featuring lozenge-shaped leaded glass. An original veranda remains beneath, partly infilled towards the rear, with mock timber details to its south gable. The left gable has a dovecot at the apex with stone perching ledges and a three-light timber mullioned window with lozenge-shaped leaded glass. The roof of an original veranda remains although the structure is otherwise infilled. The rear elevation is largely hidden but contains at least two full-height timber cross windows with square leaded glass.

The interior consists of a three-bay full-height tea room with dramatic mock-timbered and panelled walls and ceiling, much of the timber being of rusticated form. The five-sided ceiling is supported on four heavy angled trusses that rest on stone corbels positioned mid-way up the walls. The stained glass in the canted bays depicts the Royal Coat of Arms and Motto and the Darwen Coat of Arms and Motto with inscriptions below. At the east end of the room is what appears to be a centrally placed blocked original entrance to the west veranda. Also at the east end is the original basket-arched service area with servery, a half-timbered counter, and a rear room fitted as a modern kitchen. An adjacent similar arched opening leads through to a ground floor room lit by the second full-height canted bay, which has some mock timber-framing and a door providing access to the east veranda. The upper floor of this area was not inspected.

To the north and south of the tea house are former entrances, represented by pairs of square-section stone pillars with moulded caps, their gates now removed.