Gatley Park

Gatley Park is a country house dating back to the 1630s, originally commissioned for Sir Sampson Ewer. It was significantly extended and restored between 1894 and 1907, with contributions from J D Coleridge. The house is constructed of brick with stone dressings, set on a plinth of coursed rubble, and has stone tile roofs.

The original block is square in plan, featuring a central stack with nine octagonal brick shafts. This block is set forward of later 19th-century wings extending to the north-east and south-west. The north-west front showcases the main block with two storeys and an attic, the attic windows being three-light casements set within stone coped gables topped with ball finials (the left-hand gable is a 19th-century restoration). A projecting porch in the centre of the main block features a 19th-century pierced strapwork stone parapet, brick quoins, and a band. The block itself displays brick quoins and a band. The facade is arranged with one and one window either side of a central window, the outer two being four-light casements, the central one being three-light casements, all dating from the 19th century and with segmental heads. The central entrance is framed by a segmental arch containing a stone cartouche with a coat of arms within a niche. The wooden architrave has Doric pilasters, and a two-leaf door studded in the 17th century. The left and right extensions are in a similar style, exhibiting an irregular design. The wing to the left contains service rooms and a billiard room.

The interior of the porch is lined with 17th-century oak panelling. The inner door has a moulded and stopped frame with a four-centred arch surrounded by foliated spandrels and ornate strap hinges. The entrance hall, which now spans the entire width of the 17th-century block, was originally comprised of two rooms. A stone fireplace on the left of centre has moulded jambs and a four-centred head. The three-bay overmantel, divided by pilasters, has three arcaded panels. A cast iron fireback is dated 1639. The sitting room, located in the south corner, features early 18th-century painted bolection moulded panelling. The 17th-century stone fireplace here has chamfered jambs and a four-centred head, with a cast iron fireback inscribed “SE/ 1637” (with the number 3 reversed). The overmantel contains an early 18th-century painting depicting the house within its landscape, with a fox hunt in the foreground. A 19th-century staircase is located in a room at the east corner of the house, extending to the upper levels with a well-turned balustrade, moulded handrails, and newels with moulded terminals. In the main front bedroom, there is a bolection moulded fireplace with a two-panel overmantel, pilastered with enriched frames to the panels. A newel staircase with solid oak treads, originally extending to the ground floor, rises to the attics in the west corner of the first floor.