The Priory

This is a Gothick villa built between 1812 and 1818 to the designs of its owner, Thomas Espin. The building is said to incorporate salvaged masonry and materials from Louth Park Abbey and the old Town Hall.

Construction and Materials

The principal garden front is stuccoed with some exposed areas revealing ashlar stone. The subsidiary side and rear elevations are of brick, all painted white overall. The roof has been recovered in tiles. The building has an irregular but approximately rectangular plan over two storeys. The principal rooms occupy the north-facing range, while subsidiary rooms are located at the south end. The south end originally consisted of a central spine with rear wings projecting at right angles on either side, but the space between them was infilled in the 1970s.

Principal North Façade

The north-facing elevation is designed in a picturesque, ornamental Gothick style. The three-bay façade has a symmetrical composition with a central gabled bay flanked by octagonal piers which rise into wide turret-like, crenellated octagonal finials with lancet-panelled sides. The gable has a crocketed parapet pierced with quatrefoils and a central moulded shaft rising through the apex, surmounted by a decorative finial.

The projecting single-storey porch features stepped angle buttresses with small cinquefoil recesses in the base, which probably held boot-scrapers. Its parapet has turret finials similar to the gable, except it is crenellated and the quatrefoils are recessed rather than pierced. The pointed arch doorway has a deep hollow moulding and a hoodmould terminating in headstops in the form of human heads. The recessed pointed arch double-leaf timber door is embellished with blind Gothic tracery. Above the porch is a two-light window with cinquefoil heads set in a pointed arch surround with a deep hollow mould and a hoodmould similar to that on the porch.

On either side of the central bay are single-storey canted bays flanked by octagonal piers and surmounted by the same parapet as the porch. Each face of the bay is lit by pointed arch sash windows with radial glazing bars—said to have come from the old Town Hall—set in hollow-moulded surrounds with joined hoodmoulds. The right (west) return of the single-storey bay has a later-added five-sided bay window with casements and timber glazing bars. The left (east) return is blank. Behind, the return gabled walls of the two-storey central bay have the same pierced parapet as the front gable and are lit by two-over-two pane sashes, the upper sash arched, under a hoodmould.

The left (east) side has a single-storey projection with a canted bay window containing two-over-two pane sashes under shallow pointed arches. This entire projection is of exposed ashlar stone and has a crenellated parapet pierced with quatrefoils.

Side and Rear Elevations

The remainder of the side and rear elevations are subsidiary and much plainer with little or no Gothick detailing. On the east side, after the Gothick projection just described, is the 1970s extension of two gabled bays lit by casement windows, followed by a single gabled bay lit by 19th-century three-light windows with Tudor hoodmoulds.

The west side has a similar 1970s extension, three window bays wide, with a covered porch. This is followed by a gabled bay with two single-storey gabled projections, possibly former coal-stores, which have shallow pointed arch doorways and 20th-century doors. The first floor is lit by two eight-over-eight pane sash windows with cambered brick arches.

The rear elevation, facing south onto the road, is lit on the ground floor by three two-over-two pane sash windows and on the first floor by two four-over-eight sashes, all under stuccoed wedge lintels.

Interior: Principal Rooms

The principal rooms on the north side of the house are elaborately Gothick in character and have survived virtually unaltered. The central doorway opens into a small entrance hall laid in stone tiles, each corner punctuated by a black diamond-shaped tile containing a red square, and the whole edged with a band of red and yellow encaustic tiles. The hall contains the open well stair which has winders at the first turn and two iron balusters per tread, rising into cusped arches forming an arcade. It has square timber newel posts and handrails, all carved to give the impression of crenellation. Above the wall string is a small quatrefoil-shaped recess under a Tudor hoodmould which contains a clock that is said to have been set by Thomas Espin every night for the hour at which he desired breakfast. The hall and the two flanking rooms have deep hollow moulded cornices with plaster embellishments of different designs.

On the right side of the hall is a crocketed ogee arch opening with finials and slender shafts attached to the jambs. This leads into a small vaulted ante-room which has a pointed arch timber door with blind Gothic tracery, also with an ogee arch surround, giving access to a highly decorated reception room. The bay window on the north side is in a vaulted alcove with a deep hollow moulding and a Tudor hoodmould that has a decorative hollow moulding and corbels. The canted bay on the west side is a later addition formed by opening up the original alcove, which has a shallow pointed arch opening with similar treatment. The east wall has a moulded stone chimneypiece with a four-centred arch opening and carved spandrels. The grate has been removed and replaced with a gas fire. This is flanked by pointed arch alcoves which have decorative hoodmoulds. There is also a picture rail and a moulded octagonal ceiling rose with panels of long-lobed trefoils.

On the left side of the hall is the former library, entered through a door with a Tudor hoodmould. It is in most respects identical to its counterpart except the east wall has been fitted with elegant bookcases with pierced Gothic tracery. This room is now used as a hotel bar, and a counter has been installed in front of the bookcases. The elaborate timber chimneypiece is painted to resemble yellowish-brown marble and has a moulded shallow pointed arch opening with carved spandrels and a mantelpiece embellished with billet moulding. The inset is lined with turquoise tiles and two large painted tiles depicting scholarly-looking gentlemen. The grate has also been replaced with a gas fire. The headstops on the hoodmoulds in this room are thought to be portraits of Thomas Espin and his brother John. Both these rooms retain their original floorboards.

Interior: Other Principal Rooms

The two other principal rooms to the rear are not Gothick in character but still have finely detailed fixtures and fittings. The room directly behind the entrance hall has a tiled floor laid in a geometric pattern, probably added later in the 19th century, and a wide frieze of decorative plasterwork. The former library opens on the south side into another reception room which has a brown and white marble fireplace with a square opening and a mantelpiece supported by consoles. The sides and hearth are lined with red tiles and the small cast iron grate is intact. The canted bay window on the east side has a deeply moulded cornice and the whole room has a frieze of decorative plasterwork. There are some arched openings and small cast-iron grates elsewhere in the house but the other rooms are comparatively plain and retain few of their original fittings.

Subsidiary Features

At the north front of the house is an octagonal moulded stone sundial, painted white, and further to the north a flight of six stone steps with four square piers, also painted white. The piers have a recessed lancet on each face and are surmounted by pyramidal stone caps.

On the east side of the house is a curious little brick building thought to be the remnants of the original steam house which provided hot water via underground pipes to the house. It has a mono-pitched roof clad in corrugated iron that slants downwards to the north side, which has two 20th-century doors. The west return wall faces The Priory and is more decorative as a consequence, having stepped buttresses at the corners with tumbled in brickwork, and a pair of windows with pointed arch brick surrounds. Chimney stacks rise from the south-east and north-west corners, the latter one now truncated. The south side has a 19th-century four-panelled door, and the remains of two iron pipes protrude from the bottom right-hand corner of the wall. On the south side is a quarry-tiled area enclosed by a low wall in modern brick. The interior, which was only seen from the window, has a quarry-tiled floor and wooden shelving.

Slightly further to the south there is a salvaged medieval stone crocketed finial with gablets on each of the four sides. It has been fixed into the ground.