Rise Hall

Rise Hall is a small country house, now a girls' school, dating from 1815 to 1820, with later additions and alterations. The later 20th-century ranges to the east and north do not possess particular significance. It was likely designed by Robert Abraham for the Bethell family. The main facades are constructed from sandstone ashlar, with pinkish-brown brick to the rear, and have a Welsh slate roof. The building is approximately H-shaped, with projecting ranges to the north and east.

The west facade, the main elevation, has nine bays. A full-height tetrastyle Ionic portico, with a plain frieze and moulded pediment, dominates the three central bays. The central entrance features a double six-panelled door with an overlight. Twelve-pane sash windows are present throughout, the ground-floor windows featuring panelled aprons, and the first-floor windows having ashlar sills. A moulded cornice and blocking course complete the facade. Hipped roofs slope down to rear ridge stacks.

The south facade (facing the garden) has eleven bays, with projecting end bays and a three-bay central section that breaks forward and is crowned by a pediment. A five-bay range is attached to the east, with a further 20th-century range beyond. A two-step approach leads to the central entrance, featuring double-glazed doors with a divided overlight set within a tooled architrave with consoles and a hood. The windows are generally 12-pane sashes, though the end bays feature three windows on each floor, with a 12-pane sash flanked by two eight-pane sashes. Fielded aprons are present beneath the ground-floor windows, and the first-floor windows have ashlar sills. A moulded cornice and pediment are topped by a low parapet. The end bays have hipped roofs. A range to the right has an entrance with a glazed door, along with unevenly hung nine- and six-pane sashes under cambered heads. A similar facade is seen on the main north range.

Inside, the entrance hall contains a two-columned Ionic screen, and the cornice displays dentil and egg-and-dart motifs. The interior staircase hall has a square roof light. A cantilevered stone staircase features a cast-iron rod-and-circle balustrade, which continues as a balustrade on the first floor. Ionic columns are present on the first floor. Servants' dogleg staircases have turned balusters. The former dining room, now a chapel, has a moulded plaster ceiling with cherubic figures and other Neoclassical motifs, alongside a Neoclassical cornice. The marble fireplace has a central panel depicting a sacrificial scene. The library contains plain wooden bookcases and a decorative oakleaf frieze. A rear room incorporates a reused 17th-century panelled dado and a Neoclassical fireplace. Six-fielded-panel doors are widespread, some with decorative details, along with shutters to most windows, themselves often also moulded. A number of moulded fireplaces are also present.