Bagshaw Museum (The Woodlands)

Bagshaw Museum, formerly a house, was built in 1875 and converted into a museum in 1911. It was designed by Walter Hanstock for George Sheard. The house is constructed of coursed rock-faced stone with ashlar dressings, and has a steep decorated slate roof with coped gables, kneelers, and finials. Moulded eaves and tall ashlar chimney stacks are present, as are windows linked by a moulded impost band. A plinth runs along the base of the building.

The house is two storeys plus attics. The garden front has five windows, with a slightly projecting gabled two-window wing to the left. It features flat-headed plain sashes, with pointed sashes above; a single similar window is in the gable above. The central section has two flat-headed plain sashes with two pointed sashes above. A slightly projecting gabled wing to the right has a single flat-headed sash window with a pointed window above, and a small pointed niche in the gable containing initials.

The south-east entrance front also has a five-window front. A central four-storey tower has an elaborately moulded entrance archway and inner glazed doors, above a single pointed arch window, with two single similar windows on each upper floor. The tower is topped with a square copper pyramidal roof topped with an ornate iron crown. A gabled wing to the left has two flat-headed windows, with two pointed sashes above, and a single similar sash in the gable. To the right are two flat-headed sashes, above two pointed sashes, and above, two gabled dormer windows. Beyond this is a billiard room with tripartite French windows. The north-west front features five windows; a slightly off-centre gabled projection has a single small sash and, above, a tall pointed stair window, above a small pointed sash in the gable. Either side of the projection are two plain sashes to the ground floor. Above are two pointed sashes to the left and a single similar sash to the right.

The interior retains exceptionally well-preserved Victorian decoration. The two-storey central hallway has full-height panelling, a continuous gallery, a glazed curved ceiling, and a large hooded fireplace. An elaborate wooden staircase leads off, also with similar panelling and a single tall stair window with stained glass. The former dining room features full-height marquetry panelling, a carved foliate frieze, painted coving, wooden pilasters, and panelled shutters. The billiard room has similar decoration including a fine coved plaster ceiling, wooden pilasters, and a carved frieze. The former drawing room has remarkably well-preserved Victorian painted decoration including doors, doorcases, shutters, frieze and coving, plus elaborate panels to the plaster ceiling. The upper floors have some original decoration, and the service corridors retain original dado tiling.