Conservative Club And Attached Railings

CONSERVATIVE CLUB AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, Lancaster

A house, now club house, built in the early 18th century with a rear wing dating from 1637 and early 19th-century alterations and additions. The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar with ashlar dressings to the front facade and roughly coursed rubble elsewhere, with a slate roof and gable chimney stacks.

The structure comprises two rectangular blocks parallel to the street, linked by a passage on the right-hand side. The front block rises to 3 storeys above a cellar (which is at ground level at the rear) and spans 5 bays. A prominent eaves cornice with a blocking course runs across the facade. The lead rainwater hoppers feature lion masks at either side.

All windows have moulded architraves and are sashed without glazing bars; those on the second floor are shorter. The slightly projecting doorway, accessed by 4 steps, is flanked by engaged fluted Ionic columns carrying an entablature with a pulvinated frieze (which breaks back between the columns) and a dentilled pediment. The reveals contain panels in a tall-short-tall pattern, which differs from the door itself, which bears 2 rows of 4 narrow panels below an integral overlight with glazing bars forming a hollow-sided diamond pattern. The area to the left of the doorway is blocked; to the right, tall cast-iron railings with stick balusters topped with spikes and standards in bobbin baluster form with urn finials extend from the facade. Scrolled wrought-iron cresting and the remains of a tall lantern bracket are attached to the railings. A torch-snuffer is fixed to the wall inside the railings.

The 17th-century rear block rises 4 storeys with a continuous flat-topped parapet, dominated by an early 19th-century two-storey bow offset to the left. This bow has a flat-roofed porch at ground level, providing the deck for French windows on the first floor (which aligns with the ground floor of the front block). To the left of the bow is a 2-light mullioned window; to the right are a blocked 3-light window with recessed chamfered mullions and two chamfered doorways, the rightmost having a moulded lintel. On the second floor, above the left-hand window, is a diamond-shaped datestone inscribed with raised letters: "T R M 1637".

The interior contains very extensive panelling, predominantly of early 18th-century type with raised and fielded panels above and below a dado rail. The principal ground-floor room (hall) and the saloon above feature fluted Corinthian pilasters; the right-hand ground-floor room (parlour), spinal corridors on both floors, and the ground-floor dining room of the rear block have fluted Tuscan pilasters. The room above the rear block's dining room contains a fully-panelled closet with built-in cupboards and drawers beneath. Behind the hall in the front block is a bar with 17th-century muntin and rail panelling.

The main staircase, positioned to the right of the front block, is doglegged with an open string, elaborately carved brackets, and moulded trimmings to steps and risers. It features 3 fluted balusters per tread, fluted rectangular newels, and a ramped handrail. At the first half-landing is a round-headed stair window with original thick glazing bars; at the second half-landing is a chamfered stone cross-window. A doglegged staircase in the rear block has a 2-light mullioned stair window and may retain splat balusters beneath modern boarding. The basement of the rear block contains a stone fireplace approximately 2 metres wide with chamfered jambs and a massive moulded lintel. The passage retains 2 blocked 2-light mullioned windows.

According to tradition, the house—then occupied by a Mrs Livesey—hosted Bonnie Prince Charlie from 24 to 26 November 1745 on his way south. The deeds record that Oliver Marton senior purchased the property in 1723 from Edmond Cole. After his death in 1744, it passed to his eldest son Edward Marton MP (died 1758), then to his brother, the Reverend Oliver Marton.