Woodlands

Woodlands is a manufacturer’s mansion dating from the 1860s. The building is constructed of red and blue brick with stone dressings, featuring steeply-pitched slate roofs with shaped gables and various chimneys topped with weathered caps. It comprises two linked, but unequal ranges, presenting a four-bay south front, a two-bay east end, and a shorter four-bay entrance front facing the carriage drive.

The building has a basement and two and a half storeys, designed in a Jacobean style with diaper patterning, highlighted by two horizontal bands between the floors. A prominent moulded cornice supports a balustrade with urn finials connecting the gables. The second bay of the entrance front is a two-and-a-half-storey gabled bay. This bay includes a raised front door, sheltered by a large, single-storey, round-arched stone porch in a Renaissance style, with steps leading up to the front and a balustrade in the side arch. Above the door is a large carved stone shield within a panelled surround. Most ground-floor and first-floor windows are four and three-light designs with moulded wooden frames and high transoms. Attic windows are of two lights, set within the gables. The left return wall incorporates two gables, along with a large rectangular bay window on the ground floor, accessed by balustraded steps. The south (garden) side of the house has three gables, with the second bay set back and featuring a semi-circular bay window and a stone parapet at ground floor level.

Inside, the decoration and fittings are extravagant, displaying a Renaissance and Jacobean style. Key features include a panelled entrance hall, a Jacobean-style staircase, a moulded plaster frieze, cornices, and ceiling in the drawing room and dining room, and matching chimney pieces. The drawing room fireplace is classical, with superimposed orders enclosing a picture within a moulded surround. The dining room chimney is constructed of Jacobean-style wooden panelling with a heavy entablature. Radiator cabinets have been designed to match the overall style.