Coxbench Hall And Attached Stableblocks

Coxbench Hall is an early 18th-century house with stableblocks attached, altered in 1774, the early 19th century, and the 20th century. It is now an old people’s home. The house is constructed of rendered and painted brick, with sandstone ashlar, painted brick and stone dressings, plain first and second-floor bands to the west elevation, and a moulded stone cornice. It has shallow-pitched slate roofs with rendered ridge stacks hidden by low brick parapets with flat stone copings. The building is square in plan with a two-bay addition to the north-west corner and an L-shaped range of stableblocks attached to the north of the addition.

The east elevation features a Tuscan porch with an iron balcony above and a semi-circular doorcase below, containing a double-keyed door, a glazed panelled door and a traceried fanlight. To either side of the doorcase are single glazing bar sashes. Above are three evenly spaced windows, the two southern ones being glazing bar sashes, and a 20th-century casement to the north, in a matching style. A further three 20th-century casements simulate glazing bar sashes above. A recessed ashlar addition to the north features a 19th-century door to the ground floor, a central glazing bar sash above it, and a 20th-century glazing bar type casement above that.

The garden elevation incorporates a 19th-century bow window with full-height glazing bar sashes to the west, and a glazed double door under a wedge lintel with incised voussoirs to the east. Above the door are pairs of adjoining glazing bar sashes under similar wedge lintels, and above again are four 20th-century glazing bar sash type casements. The west elevation is of painted brick and has glazing bar sashes under flat brick arches.

The attached stableblocks to the north of the addition are constructed of ashlar. The west range has a central raised segmental arch with a raised keystone inscribed ‘William Brooks 1774’ and panelled doors. To either side are glazing bar sashes under wedge lintels with raised keystones, that to the north retaining an original 18th-century sash, and beyond which are panelled doors under plain lintels. Beyond the northern door is another glazing bar sash under a wedge lintel. A stone water trough with a lead spout and a head inscribed ‘WB 1774’ is located in the southern corner of the range. The north range has a raised segmental headed arch to the west and four plain doors to the east, one of which is blocked. Above the doors are five small casement windows.

The interior of the house features a good early 18th-century dogleg staircase with bulbous balusters and a wide moulded handrail. The hall has a flagged stone floor and a nice segmental arch with fluted pilasters. The dining room includes a semi-circular headed cupboard and a triple arched fireplace.