The Knoll with attached Stables

The Knoll with attached Stables

House with stables and coach house designed in 1907 by architect William Bidlake for WH Winterton. The interior plasterwork was executed by George Bankart. The building is constructed of brick with stone dressings beneath a Swithland slate roof.

The principal range of the house runs roughly east-west with the entrance front facing north, while the stables and coach house range projects at right angles to the north at the eastern end.

The house is designed in Jacobean style with Arts and Crafts influences. Windows throughout generally feature stone mullions and transoms with small leaded casements. Tall groups of chimneys punctuate the roofscape.

The irregular entrance front to the north is dominated by a projecting central gable housing the door within a wide four-centred arch, with an oriel window above. Strapwork decoration and obelisks flank the doorway, which retains iron door furniture. The right-hand bay contains a tall chimney with small windows in the returns. To the left of the door is a projecting flat-roofed section with an embattled parapet and a large first-floor window expressing the stair within. Recessed behind this flat roof are two small gables, with further projecting gables beyond containing a smaller door to the service areas and access to the stable range.

The west elevation expresses the sloping site with a full-height canted bay raised on an open loggia with Doric columns at basement level, all framed by a gable with finials.

The garden front to the south is mostly symmetrical across the principal block of five varied bays. The central bay is recessed with a ground-floor door and an attic window in the gabled apex above, but is otherwise blank. The outer bays step forward; large windows to either side light the hall, with projecting gabled bays beyond. That to the left features a double-height canted bay, while to the right is a double-height squared bay. A small recessed bay with a narrow gable appears to the left, with a lower service range to the right.

Beyond the service range, two parallel stable and coach house ranges project to the north. The western range contains a large archway from the entrance drive leading to stables beyond. The courtyard side of the arch features a shingled gable. A tall gabled section with diaper pattern brickwork faces the drive side, with a dovecote to the courtyard side complete with a taking-in door below and two stables or loose boxes. The eastern range contains two gabled bays, also shingled, housing the coach house with wide doors, followed by a further gable and an additional small courtyard off the house's service areas.

Interior

The main entrance opens into a small lobby giving access to the principal hall beyond. The hall walls are lined with timber panelling and the ceiling features chamfered beams. A large inglenook fireplace has a carved overmantel and stone surround with repoussé work copper hood and Delft tiles. The bay windows flanking the garden door have plasterwork ceilings, and above the door to the adjacent drawing room is a plaster frieze depicting dancing figures.

The drawing room contains a Jacobean style plasterwork ceiling, timber panelling, and a further inglenook fireplace. The morning room and dining room are also panelled with plasterwork decoration; the dining room features vine scroll ornament and retains inbuilt shelving and cupboards. Beyond the dining room lies the service area containing the kitchen and other ancillary rooms.

From the hall, the main stair winds around the back of the fireplace, with a balustrade of thick timber posts and newels with finials. The first-floor corridors are groin vaulted with further panelling and provide access to bedrooms which generally have plain cornicing and some surviving fireplaces. Some bathrooms retain period tiling, including one in Art Deco style. Attic rooms above contain some further surviving fireplaces.