Ledston Lodge

Ledston Lodge is a mid-17th century hunting lodge, later used as a standing and now a dwelling, built for Sir John Lewis of Ledston Hall. The building has been slightly altered since its original construction. It is constructed primarily of dressed magnesian limestone, with lead-clad roofs. The main structure is square and symmetrical, but features a short set-back wing on the west side and another to the rear, which may represent early additions. The lodge has two storeys, marked by a plinth, a first-floor band, a string course above the first floor, a plain frieze, and a moulded cornice that runs around the entire building. Four corner turrets are topped with embattled parapets, which may have replaced earlier timber balustrades. The central doorway has a depressed arch with a broad, slightly projecting architrave, incorporating a keystone carved with a hunting horn, an entablature with carved consoles on either side, and a carved cartouche above the first-floor band. There are two cross-windows at ground floor level and three above. Each turret has a narrow vertical window on each of its outer sides, a string course, a plain frieze, a moulded cornice, and an ogee cap with a ball finial (missing from the southwest turret), formerly surmounted by fish weathervanes on slender masts. The set-back west wing contains one cross-window on each floor to the front, a similar window at the first floor of the side and rear, and a two-light mullioned window at ground floor of the side and rear. At the rear, the northwest corner, which is a stair turret, projects between the wings. Former cross-windows in the re-entrant angle to the west wing are blocked, suggesting the wing’s addition, but cross-windows are still visible on the other side. The rear wing has narrow vertical windows with a transom; one on each floor of the side and one at the first floor of the rear wall. An external brick chimney stack is situated on the right-hand side of the principal block. The lodge has a flat roof, accessible from the northwest turret which contains facing slabs lining the inner walls and a narrow door on one side.

Inside, remnants of a large stone-arched fireplace, including both jambs and some voussoirs, remain. A stone spiral staircase is located within a turret. Otherwise, the interior has been altered.