Osberton Hall

Osberton Hall is a country house of 18th-century origin, substantially remodelled and enlarged over the course of the 19th century. The building stands on the north side of Retford Road, Worksop.

The original 18th-century house was remodelled by William Wilkins in 1806 for F. F. Foljambe. A top floor was added to the service wing by A. Poynter in 1848. Between 1872 and 1880, William Burn and John MacVicar Anderson carried out extensive alterations for F. G. Foljambe, including the addition of a porte cochere, a west wing, and a comprehensive remodelling of the interior. Further alterations to the service wing were made by G. M. T. Foljambe around 1970.

The main house is constructed of brick, stuccoed, with hipped slate roofs and ashlar dressings. It consists of two storeys plus attics and spans seven bays. The first floor and sill bands are rusticated, with rusticated quoins at the corners, a moulded cornice, and a plain parapet.

The south-west front presents two distinct facades. The principal house front, to the right, is symmetrical and dominated by a central porte cochere with two pairs of Doric columns and two pairs of flanking clustered pilasters. Antae frame a doorway with moulded eared architrave and a two-leaf panelled door, flanked by pairs of plain sash windows with bracketed sills and eared architraves. Above the ground floor, a projecting central bay contains a central French window with narrow plain sashes on either side, followed by two further plain sashes, all with eared architraves with keystones. The top storey features a moulded pediment containing a Diocletian window with keystone.

The north-west wing, to the left of the porte cochere, has a central canted two-storey bay window containing three plain sashes on each floor; those on the ground floor have pulvinated friezes and hoods, while those above have projecting keystones. To the right of this bay, a canted extruded corner contains a single French window, flanked to the right by a single plain sash. Above this arrangement are further sashes and three pedimented dormers with glazing bar sashes. The north-west end features a two-storey canted bay window with four plain sashes on each floor, above which rises a single gabled dormer.

The rear elevation displays a projecting canted two-storey bay window to the right, with ten plain sashes on the ground floor and twelve plain sashes above, surmounted by eight gabled dormers.

The service wing to the south-east is built of coursed squared rubble. Around 1970, the top floor was removed and the wing was shortened. It measures two storeys and four bays, with one plain sash and two glazing bar sashes, and an ashlar doorcase with rebated panels to their right. Above are four glazing bar sashes and a single roof stack. In the return angle stands a 20th-century flat-roofed porch of coursed squared rubble with parapet, containing two glazing bar sashes and a half-glazed door. The rear of this wing has a canted two-storey bay window and six plain sashes on the ground floor, with five plain sashes above.

The interior is exceptionally well preserved and dates principally to around 1880. The entrance hall contains two niches with timber figures. Throughout the house, rooms feature moulded cornices and architraves with Classical-style fireplaces, several of which have marble surrounds and kerbs.

The galleried two-storey hall represents the architectural centrepiece of the interior. It has moulded architraves, a dentillated cornice, and a coffered soffit to the gallery; above sits a coffered ceiling with a coved rectangular light well displaying Classical ornament. The hall features elliptical-headed niches and fitted oak display cases for birds. The south-west wall displays a moulded marble fireplace and kerb with a large mahogany surround carved with heraldic beasts carrying shields, the lintel set with carved panels and a cornice ornamented with egg and dart work. At the south-east end, a stairwell with modillioned lintel and five Ionic pilasters contains a panelled oak open well staircase with panelled square newels, carved and turned balusters, and ball finials. Above the stairwell, three pairs of cabled Ionic piers and three clustered matching pilasters support a coffered ceiling with dentillated cornice and an oval domed top light with petal glazing. The gallery has a balustrade matching the staircase, three doors, and at its north-west end, a central organ case flanked by two single round-headed doorways.

The dining room displays a moulded cornice with Classical ornament and grisaille panels. Its south-west wall features a central marble fireplace with elaborate curved brackets and relief panels, flanked by two niches containing busts on herms. The south-east wall has a segmental-headed blind arch with impost band, moulded soffit, and hood mould.

The library is fully fitted with oak bookcases with curved brackets supporting deep cornices, which retain original 19th-century volumes. The south-west wall displays a central marble fireplace and kerb with a panelled oak surround and mantelshelf in Classical style, topped by a moulded and dentillated cornice.

The drawing room features a deep plaster frieze and modillioned cornice, together with a panelled Adam-style ceiling with a central round panel flanked by single rectangular panels containing figures. The north-east wall contains a central Classical-style marble fireplace with paired, cabled Corinthian piers, a panelled frieze and lintel, and a deep cornice. Above the fireplace stands a carved and gilt overmantel in 19th-century Rococo style.