Worksop Manor, House And Stable Block

Worksop Manor is a country house and stable block of major architectural significance, originally built for the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury in the late 16th century. The structure was greatly altered and extended for the eighth Duke of Norfolk between 1701 and 1704, when the stables were also built. Following a devastating fire in 1761, the house was rebuilt by the renowned architect James Paine between 1761 and 1767, with Paine having already undertaken internal alterations from 1756. Further substantial alterations and demolition work were carried out by the Duke of Newcastle in 1840, with additional changes made later in the 19th century.

The building is constructed of ashlar stonework with hipped slate roofs. It features a plinth, first floor band, cornice, coped parapet, and windows with projecting architraves, some incorporating keystones. Rusticated quoins are employed throughout, and various panelled ridge and side wall stacks are present. The complex ranges from 2 to 3 storeys with some attic spaces, forming a quadrangle approximately 25 bays wide by 14 bays deep, with a screen wall to the west and a projecting basement wall of the former house also positioned to the west.

The east exterior front features a recessed central bay with projecting flanking wings. A prominent round-headed central gateway has a moulded lintel and is flanked by pilasters, with a single glazing bar sash in the tympanum. This gateway is flanked by single round windows, and lean-to porches with Doric corner piers occupy the return angles. Above the gateway, a pediment contains an oval glazing bar light, flanked by single glazing bar sashes and similar sashes in the return angles. A hexagonal timber bell turret with a ball finial crowns this composition. The double-depth flanking wings feature single doors with moulded architraves and 11 glazing bar sashes of various sizes on each floor, all with projecting architraves, some with keystones.

Within the courtyard, the north and south ranges extend for 14 bays and include 3 doorways with scrolled brackets supporting flat hoods, 4 smaller doors without hoods, and 7 glazing bar sashes. Above these are 14 further glazing bar sashes, and 8 dormers with alternating pediments. The east range contains a central pedimented gateway with 5-bay ranges on either side, featuring central arched arcades with pilastered surrounds.

The exterior south front dates from 1701 to 1704. It was converted and extended to form the house around 1840 and presents an 11-bay, 3-storey front. An off-centre full-height canted bay window contains 5 plain sashes on each floor. To its left is a single sash, and to the right, 4 sashes; above these are 7 sashes and then 7 smaller sashes. A 19th-century addition to the left includes a smaller full-height canted bay window with 3 plain sashes on each floor; to its left is a setback bay with a single sash on each floor.

The west range comprises a screen wall and pavilion designed by James Paine. It features a main central gateway and smaller flanking gateways, with a pavilion positioned to the left. The composition includes a plinth, impost band, entablature, and parapet across 17 bays. The central gateway has paired giant flanking columns and a blind attic above with a recessed central panel and corner pilasters. Above this sits a concave-sided podium with cornice carrying a heraldic lion. The wall incorporates giant Doric columns. The flanking gateways have round heads and feature important wrought iron gates by Bakewell. To the left is an octastyle portico. The east side displays single round-headed niches flanking the central gateway, with round blank panels above and round-headed blind arcading with intermediate pilasters. A rusticated basement wall features a central projecting bay with 4 round-headed keystoned openings and projecting 3-bay flanking wings at each end. The left wing has a single coped gable and balustrade, 3 glazing bar sashes with keystoned lintels, and to its left, an octagonal glazed 19th-century porch. Above are 3 dormers with alternating pediments. The flanking walls each have 6 blank openings, with similar openings on the south side. A cornice and balustrade with urns runs above, and a ramped coped buttress is positioned at the west end.

The interior contains a fine mid-18th-century fireplace. This building represents an important example of 18th-century country house architecture, reflecting successive phases of development and the work of a major architect of the period.