Beauvale House Service Wing And Stables And Garden Wall

Beauvale House Service Wing and Stables and Garden Wall

A small country house with attached service wing and stables, built between 1871 and 1873. Designed by E. W. Godwin for the 7th Earl Cowper, it exemplifies the Old English Revival style pioneered by Godwin and widely adopted during the 1870s, notably at Bedford Park. The building is of brick with timber framing, brick nogging and patterned tile hanging, with steep pitched plain tiled hipped and gabled roofs. It comprises two storeys plus attics arranged in an L-plan across five bays.

The entrance front displays a door with overlight to the left, followed by a large casement and four smaller casements. To the right stands a moulded pointed doorway with studded double doors. Beyond this, a casement window breaks the façade. Above the entrance door is a datestone inscribed 'C.1873'. Two triple casements sit above, and the gable above them is tile hung and contains a five-light casement. The windows throughout are mainly leaded timber cross and French casements, many with segmental heads.

The south-east garden front features a hipped corner tower to the left with two stages. A central canted two-storey bay window with a conical roof dominates the composition, flanked by a central French window and single casements, all with notable stained glass overlights. Beyond these are further single casements, with a bay window containing casements above. To the right, a cross casement appears, with a hood gabled dormer above it again.

The north-east front has a three-storey canted bay window with a conical roof to the left, containing three casements. To its right, a projecting catslide roof on curved brackets features pargetted infill. Two further casements appear to the right again. Above, the bay window displays leaded casements on each floor. A twenty-first century fire door flanked by single casements stands to the right. The most striking feature is the central square tower, standing 90 feet high, with a moulded string course and parapet. On each side are two mullioned casements. The timber-framed lantern stage above has shaped leaded lights on each side, a pyramidal roof and a large wind vane.

The lower gabled service wing and stable yard to the north-west display irregular fenestration with sashes and casements. The west side features a tile hung gabled carriage entrance with double gates.

Interior Principal rooms have panelled dados and chair rails, dentillated doorcases and panelled plaster ceilings. The dining room contains a keystoned marble fireplace with a tiled opening and a pargetted overmantel on curved brackets. Several other keystoned ashlar fireplaces are present, along with a tiled corner fireplace. The principal stair is a dogleg design with a stair window containing stained glass panels. The tower contains a spiral stair in two stages with iron brackets. The kitchen features a moulded collar purlin roof.

The garden wall, constructed from semi-circular terracotta components in a C-plan pierced design, forms an integral part of this important ensemble.

Beauvale House represents the most significant building designed by Godwin and erected on the Greasley estate between 1871 and 1878, and constitutes a noteworthy early example of the Old English Revival style.