Briarcourt

Briarcourt, Lindley, is a house built in 1894–5 by Edgar Wood for his sister and brother-in-law, H.H. Sykes, on a south-facing site with grounds principally to the north and south.

The house is constructed of hammer-dressed stone with ashlar dressings under a pitched stone slate roof. It comprises two full storeys plus attics in the gables. The plan has a central hall with two main rooms to each side and a rear north range connected by a corridor.

The exterior features coped gables, some ending in short parapets, and deeply projecting eaves at some points. The chimney stacks are tall and plain, some connected to the building with decorative iron ties. Windows are mullioned and transomed with chamfered mullions and leaded upper lights. The ground floor and some upper floor windows contain stained glass in an Arts and Crafts style. A two-storey parapetted canted bay projects at the east end of the front elevation. There is a two-storey gabled porch with ball finials. The cornice over the ground floor of the porch bears a heart-shaped cartouche flanked by ferns with much foliage, alongside arabesque and strapwork ornament. The planked door has four small lights, a moulded cornice three-quarters of the way up, delicate iron hinges and a handle ornamented with a briar motif. The west side has a single-storey parapetted bay at the south end. At the north end of the main range is a projecting canted chimney breast with single leaded lights in the sides and corners, its gable end coped and shaped up to the stack. Rainwater heads and junction boxes are moulded with paterae, fluting, blind tracery and dates. The 1904 extension has a wide arched entrance to the right with a half-glazed timber door with leaded lights, flanked by similar panels.

The principal rooms display Jacobethan style with Arts and Crafts detailing on fingerplates, hinges and window latches. The porch is wainscoted with moulded panels, some modillioned, and plasterwork above decorated with studs shaped in Arts and Crafts style patterns. The inner door has brass Arts and Crafts fingerplates and stained glass with Art Nouveau stylised briar patterns.

The hall contains moulded panelling and plasterwork in the form of stylised lily patterns between the panelling and ceiling, with a simple fireplace having a chamfered four-centred arch. The staircase features elaborate cut balusters of Jacobean type and bulbous turned and carved newel posts supporting a depressed arched modillioned canopy over the lower part.

The study to the south-east has moulded panelling and a fresco by F.W. Jackson depicting harvest scenes with briars between the panelling and ceiling. The canted bay to the south has turned wooden mullions. The chimney piece displays moulded wooden rustication, a modillion cornice and a marble fireplace, with a built-in desk and two cupboards all featuring chevrons, cross-shaped panels and turned and carved posts.

The sitting room to the south-west contains an inglenook with simple Arts and Crafts detailing, a very elaborate plaster ceiling with rounds of angels intertwined with briars and honeysuckle, and a plaster frieze of intertwined briars. The octagonal bay to the side has stained glass panels of briars.

The dining room to the north-west has moulded panelling with studs above and plaster infilling decorated with a briar pattern of incised lines. A canted inglenook is supported on bulbous turned columns, and the window mullions are duplicated by turned vase-shaped wooden mullions on the inner wall face. The stone chimney piece has a rose tree incised above the fireplace and a moulded mantelpiece with carved brackets to the ceiling. A recessed built-in dresser on the east side features diamond and star-burst patterns on the panels.

The kitchen to the north-east has modern fittings and the inner hall has an inserted lift rising to all floors. The rooms to the rear have few features of interest apart from a parquet floor in the end room to the north. The first-floor landing has a round arch on the north side with a wooden impost band ramped up towards each side. The three principal rooms to the south have a mix of plaster friezes and timber framing in the bays, as does the north-west room. The central front room has been truncated by alteration to the staircase, and the lift shaft occupies the position of a former storeroom, but the layout otherwise remains largely intact. Two of the first-floor rooms have built-in cupboards with carved motifs and ironwork on the hinges and latches. At the north end of the rear extension is a former billiard room on the first floor decorated in a more florid Art Nouveau style, including pilasters framing a former fireplace and fingerplate on the door. The attic floor has a cloakroom containing original tiling, patterned WC and cistern.