Bolesworth Castle

Bolesworth Castle is a castellated house built in 1829 by William Cole for G. Walmesley. It is his principal work and features an interior that was partly reworked by Clough Williams Ellis for G. Barbour between 1920 and 1923. The building is constructed of ashlar sandstone and consists of two storeys, with a three-storey turretted centerpiece. It has a plinth, a band at the first floor, and battlements. The design includes wide canted two-storey bays at the center and right end, a round bay at the left, and a single-storey wing that ends in an octagonal two-storey turret. Each projecting bay contains three windows, with two more between them. The windows are cross casements, although some bars have been removed from the lower storey and some from the upper. Clough Williams Ellis also modified the right end, which is not visible from the front, by adding round-headed French windows to the lower storey and replacing the battlements with a balustrade. A Gothic archway over the rear drive connects the house to the sandstone cliff behind.

Inside, the three front rooms retain Gothick doorways and plaster ceilings that are largely attributed to William Cole, although some details are damaged. Behind these rooms is a central open-well staircase featuring cantilevered stone steps, iron balusters, and a mahogany rail, with round-arched openings leading to the corridors upstairs and a small circular glazed dome above. To the right of the staircase is Clough Williams Ellis's galleried classical hall, which includes pilasters, a frieze, an oval ceiling panel, and a statue of Diana with a hound in a niche. The interior also features six-panel doors in shoulder-arched openings with panelled reveals.