Hemswell Court, former RAF Officers' Mess, including associated entrance walls and gate piers

Hemswell Court is a former Royal Air Force Officers' Mess built in 1935 and opened in 1936, later converted to a hotel in the 1980s.

The building is constructed of yellow brick laid in Flemish bond with a plain clay tile roof. It is designed in a restrained neo-Georgian style and comprises a principal south-west facing range of approximately rectangular plan with two flanking L-shaped accommodation wings. The principal range has hipped roofs with bonnet tiles at the hips. The tall one-storey main range extends across thirteen bays facing south-west. The central three bays project slightly to form a triple arched porch positioned in front of the recessed entrance, which extends just above the eaves. The arches are supported by square columns and are decorated with two rows of brick headers around the arch rings. The central arch contains the entrance door with multi-pane wooden glazing bars and a semi-circular fanlight featuring radial glazing bars. The flanking arches are similarly glazed but appear to be fixed rather than opening as doors. Two tall brick chimney stacks rise from the roof ridge, positioned in line with either end of the porch. The five bays on each side of the porch are lit by tall twelve-over-sixteen pane sash windows with wooden glazing bars, which may be original. In the eleventh bay, the lower section of the window is a multi-pane glazed door, possibly a later alteration. The return walls are lit by two windows of the same style.

The principal range is connected to the two-storey flanking wings by short single-storey corridors. The south-west elevation of the wings is five bays wide, with each bay lit on both floors by uPVC windows styled as six-over-six pane sashes. The ground-floor windows have gauged brick arches. A uPVC door occupies the second bay. The return walls on the inner sides are six bays wide, with a large chimney stack rising from the verge above the second bay, its two shafts joined to create an arch. The remaining elevations forming the long north-east stem of the L-shaped wings follow a similar style. The rear elevations were not visible at the time of survey.

Internal inspection was not possible, but comparison with scenes from the film The Dam Busters suggests the building retains much of its original layout and fixtures. The principal range contains the original ballroom, dining room and lounge area, finished in restrained neo-Georgian style with plain cornices, dado rails and large delicate panels above. Multi-pane glazed doors feature wooden glazing bars, and the opening between two rooms has a neo-Classical door surround with corner blocks. At least two original fireplaces survive, with dark grey marble insets, stone surrounds and fenders, and moulded wooden mantelpieces. One mantelpiece is flanked by full-height glazed bookcases with wooden glazing bars. The floors are laid with narrow boards which appear to be original. The main dogleg stair has a closed string, square newel posts and turned balusters supporting a moulded handrail. The kitchen contains original fittings including panelling, plate rack and sink, and possibly the original Aga. The dormitories in the flanking wings have been converted into bedrooms and are said to retain original radiators.

The entrance drive to the east is lined by brick walls with flat coping. At each end the walls terminate in square brick piers with a plinth and stepped square caps surmounted by a ball finial. The gate piers and walls have been rebuilt and are not original to Hemswell Court.