Hesslewood

Hesslewood is a house, now an hotel, built in 1789 for Joseph Robinson Pease, with later alterations. The house is constructed of white brick with stone dressings and has slate roofs. The original two-storey block of five symmetrical bays was raised by a further storey in the 19th century. Three-bay single-storey wings extend to two-storey, single-bay pavilions. A five-step approach leads to a central double-leaf glazed door set within a round-headed architrave, topped by a pilastered porch with a pediment enriched with festoons and rosettes. A dentilled cornice sits above, with a plinth and sill band running along the front. To the right of the entrance are two 12-pane sashes; to the left, two 2-pane sashes, all under wedge lintels. The first-floor features a band, a further sill band, and five 2-pane sashes under wedge lintels. A modillion cornice with a blocking course runs along the top of the main block. Five attic storey windows are visible: three 6-pane sashes to the right and two 20th-century replacement windows to the left. Elaborate stacks with cornices rise from the roof. Flanking wings originally featured three round-headed recesses with stone impost detail; the two outer bays of the right wing have sashes with glazing bars and sills set within pedimented architraves. A late 19th-century square bay now obscures the first bay of the right wing, projecting from the main range. The right pavilion has a Venetian window to the ground floor, above which is a Diocletian window, flanked by sashes with glazing bars and sills under wedge lintels. The pediment and end stack have a dentilled cornice. An extension to the right is not of special interest. The left wing has a central sash with glazing bars in a pedimented architrave, flanked by round-headed niches with sills. The left pavilion features a French window in place of an altered Venetian window, and three sashes with sills and glazing bars on the first floor above. Again, the pediment and reduced end stack have a dentilled cornice. Inside the house is a fine late 18th-century cut-string staircase with model tread-ends, turned and fluted balusters, and a slender wreathed handrail. Six-panel doors are set within architraves with enriched pulvinated friezes and cornices. A giant round arch with a Greek key frieze sits on Tower of the Winds pilasters within the stair-hall.