Riseholme Hall

Riseholme Hall is an early 18th-century country house, later used as a College of Agriculture, significantly altered in the 1840s by William Railton in an Italianate style. The building is constructed of ashlar and render, with hipped slate roofs and five tall ashlar stacks, two wall and three ridge.

The main block is two storeys high, featuring a plinth, first-floor cill band, balustraded parapet, and rusticated quoins. The front entrance has seven bays arranged in a 2:3:2 format, with the central bays slightly projecting. A three-bay porte-cochere stands before the front, incorporating semi-circular arches with key and impost blocks, flanked by Doric columns in antis. The central bay supports full Doric columns, above which is a triglyph frieze and modillioned cornice. The central, half-glazed, panelled door is topped by a plain overlight, with three tall glazing-bar sashes on either side. The first floor features seven smaller glazing-bar sashes. The central three bays at first-floor level are divided by rusticated vertical strips, topped by a blank parapet with vermiculated panels. To the left is a lower, ten-bay rendered service wing. The right-hand front has six bays of glazing-bar sashes.

The garden front is also arranged 2:3:2, with the central three bays slightly advanced and bowed. A seven-bay loggia, supported on Doric columns, extends before this front; the third pair of columns, towards the centre, are in antis. The columns support a deep modillioned cornice with a triglyph frieze. The central double-glazed doors have an overlight and are flanked by three tall glazing-bar sashes. The first floor has seven smaller glazing-bar sashes. All windows have moulded architraves, and cornices, except for those beneath the loggia.

To the right of the main block is a lower, three-bay range, slightly recessed and rendered, which represents the remnant of the early 18th-century house. It contains an off-centre 19th-century half-glazed door with side lights, and three glazing-bar sashes to the right, featuring thicker glazing bars and moulded architraves with raised keyblocks. The first floor mirrors this arrangement, and above is a plain cornice and parapet.

Internally, a large rectangular lightwell is located off the entrance hall, with a cast iron balcony to the first floor, featuring vertical panels linked by intersecting circles. Above the modillioned cornice is a coved, panelled ceiling with decorative pendants marking vertical pilasters, surrounding a raised rectangular light. Above this is a highly decorative recessed oval panel with doves and laurel leaves in the corners. The stone, dog-leg staircase has oversized stone balusters and a handrail. A wrought iron lampstand is affixed to the newel post. The house was altered to serve as the country residence for the Bishops of Lincoln. The original 18th-century house is depicted in the Banks Collection, by J. C. Nattes in 1803, showing the current service wing to the right of the main house.