Cuerden Hall

Cuerden Hall is a country mansion combining an early 17th-century core with work of 1816–1819 by Lewis Wyatt, the older part substantially altered internally. The building is constructed of brick with stone dressings and has a roof concealed by high parapets.

The plan is irregular. The original house, a simple rectangular double pile structure seven windows in length, is now incorporated into the central third of the composition, flanked to the west by a stable court and to the east by Wyatt's addition. The building rises to two storeys overall, though the east end is higher than the centre, which itself is higher than the east end, with a very large stairwell rising centrally to form a hamper.

The original house now displays stone bands on two levels of both front and rear walls, sashed windows with glazing bars, and projecting corner chimneys beneath a high brick parapet. At the centre of the south side stands a prominent stone porch with six Tuscan columns arranged in two groups of three at the corners and a dentilled cornice. Above this porch rises a canted bay. Some of these alterations may be attributable to Wyatt.

The east range, added by Wyatt, is rectangular in plan with five bays to each side. It features tall square-sectioned corner chimneys with narrow inset stone panels on both levels, these terminating above the parapet as four clustered flues with stone caps. Moulded stone bands on two levels carry round these chimneys, while high stepped parapets with stone copings crown the composition. At the right ends of the ground floor on the east and south sides are large stone canted bay windows with panelled parapets. On the north side, a projecting single-storey stone pavilion of seven bays extends the full length of this wall. It incorporates a round-headed front door at its centre, above which is a carved stone coat of arms in the parapet, flanked by a carved stag and a hawk—a feature not shown on Wyatt's original drawings. All other windows throughout the east range are sashed with glazing bars and moulded architraves; those at ground floor are very tall, rising from ground level, while those at first floor have twelve panes each.

To the west of the original house lies a lower "office court", originally of three sides and open to the west, subsequently extended and enclosed. This comprises two storeys beneath a high parapet. The north front, linked by a small recessed pantry bay now altered as an office entrance, has six unequal bays, each breaking back slightly. The first bay is a high single storey, originally the kitchen, with two tall round-headed windows. The next two bays each have three stone-cased sashed windows on both floors. The final three bays, apparently later additions, feature a large round-headed arch to the courtyard at the centre, flanked by pilasters and surmounted by a decorative stone pediment in the coping with flanking ball finials. On each side of this arch are two sashed windows per floor, all with splayed stone heads.

The south range, which breaks forward from the original house, has a polygonal corner with round-headed windows—originally designed by Wyatt as an octagonal dairy—and a recessed porch with Tuscan columns at its centre. All other windows are sashed with stone cases.

The interior of the east range retains its original features by Wyatt, principally a fine open well staircase with carved oak balusters and closed string, along with original fireplaces and doors. A complete set of Wyatt's drawings for the work is held in the RIBA Drawings Collection.