Winstanley House (Formerly Braunstone Hall)

Winstanley House, formerly known as Braunstone Hall, is a small country house built in 1776 by the architect William Oldham, who later became Lord Mayor of Leicester.

The house is constructed of brick and stone with a hipped slate roof. The entrance front has three storeys and five windows arranged symmetrically. The windows are six-over-six glazing bar sashes set beneath flat brick arches. A central bay, slightly recessed to full height, terminates in a round-headed arch. Double stone bands run over the ground floor and a single stone band over the first floor. The central windows have moulded stone architraves, with the top one cambered-headed and the first floor example featuring a frieze and cornice. Stone sills throughout. The eaves are finished with a stone modillioned cornice, blocking course, and plinth.

The central stone doorcase spans three bays and is a striking feature. It comprises three-quarter columns with fluted caps supporting a semi-circular arch, which encloses a panelled door with an ornamental fanlight. The outer bays contain narrow sash windows with attached three-quarter outer piers matching the central columns. Above runs a triglyph frieze, mutule cornice, and pediment.

The side elevations follow a similar character, each with two projecting chimney breasts. A three-storey wing on the west side was added later. The park front mirrors the entrance front but without the central recess. Ground and first floor central windows have moulded stone architraves, with the first floor featuring frieze and cornice and the top floor cased. The ground floor includes a central doorcase with architrave and pediment. A further wing set back to the left, dated 1911, comprises two sash windows over three storeys in similar style, with a stone modillioned cornice, blocking course, and hipped slate roof. The house stands within a landscaped park.

The interior features a hall with marble Ionic columns and a contemporary staircase with iron balusters, plainer at upper levels. Ground floor rooms retain moulded cornices, friezes, and fireplaces, with doorcases featuring carved cornices and friezes. The entrance opens into reception rooms either side. Many original fire surrounds survive throughout the house. A brick vaulted cellar lies beneath.

The house was built for Clement Winstanley on a rise overlooking Charnwood Forest, set within 100 acres of parkland. Clement died in 1808 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also named Clement, who served as a Justice of the Peace and Lieutenant Colonel of the Leicestershire Militia from 1802 to 1809. He was also Chairman of the Leicester and Swanington Railway, which opened in 1832, and died unmarried in 1855. After brief ownership by his nephew James Beaumont, the hall passed to James's sister Anna Jane Pochin. In 1904 Anna transferred the estate to her son Richard Norman, who changed his name by deed poll to Winstanley. In 1911 Richard extended the south side of the hall, adding a wing containing toilets and bathrooms; the initials W, R and K and the date are visible in the brickwork. In 1925, while Richard Winstanley still occupied the property, Leicester Corporation compulsorily purchased his Braunstone land for housing development.

The house is designated at Grade II as an 18th-century building that has survived well with good interior features, and because its architect William Oldman, later Lord Mayor of Leicester, adds historical interest.