Moor Park

Moor Park is a country house, now a school, with a core dating from approximately 1740–50 that was substantially remodelled and extended between 1873 and 1876. The building is constructed in brick with red gauged brick, terracotta and red stone facings, and is topped by steep tiled hipped roofs. Ridge chimneys of scattered panelled brick are scattered across the roof, many reduced and fitted with 20th-century capping.

The architecture is Queen Anne in style, featuring gauged brick pilasters, embellished brick lintels, sills and plinth. The eaves are painted with modillions and enriched brick, and there are ornate Dutch gables fronting attic windows.

The plan consists of an extended main range running north to south with large wings projecting east and north from the north-east corner.

The exterior is of two storeys with an attic and basement. The entrance front faces west and presents a thirteen-window range arranged 1:2:2:3:2:2:1. The central entrance bay is slightly advanced, with the outer pair of windows forming projecting wings. Most fenestration comprises 1/1 19th-century sash windows, except for mullion and transom windows flanking a projecting entrance porch at ground level. The porch features round-headed openings and pilasters with a Doric entablature, and incorporates a balustrade with a pediment whose tympanum displays the arms of the Foster family. Above the entrance bay rises a large Dutch gable in two stages: the lower stage features a 2-light casement flanked by pilasters, niches and scrolls, while the upper stage carries a crest incorporating the arms of the Salwey and Foster families, flanked by double pilasters and ball finials. Smaller Dutch gables project from the hipped roofs above the projecting wings, each containing 2-light and single-light casements with fanlights, flanked by pilasters with ball finials and scrolls. Segmental-roofed dormers with 2-light casements lie between the Dutch gables.

The right return presents a five-window range of 1/1 19th-century sashes arranged 3:2, with the left bays slightly advanced and topped by a Dutch gable. At ground level, these bays are masked by a projecting bay window with 1/1 sashes on all three sides. A segmental-roofed dormer is situated to the right, and glazed doors with top light open to the ground floor.

The rear south elevation displays an eleven-window range arranged 1:2:2:3:2:1, partly obscured to the right by a rear wing extending east. The rear mirrors the front elevation except that gauged brick quoins replace the pilasters. The central advanced bay features a modillioned pediment with a brick tympanum containing an oval multi-pane casement, and three mullion and transom windows with leaded lights at both ground and first floors. An ornate brick doorcase with a scrolled-apex pediment flanks these windows. The left return presents a five-window range arranged 4:1 with an advanced bay to the right topped by a small Dutch gable; a hipped dormer sits to the left. The ground floor on the left is masked by a single-storey extension.

The rear wing to the east displays a seven-window range matching the date and style of the main range. The wing to the north contains a six-window range of slightly later date with reduced brick embellishment.

A circular stair turret on the west side features a conical tiled roof capped with a spire rising from an open octagonal arcade.

Internally, the entrance hall is lined with oak panelling and embossed leather wall-covering adorns the staircase. An 18th-century oak dogleg staircase features a curtail step, toadback handrail and tapered columns on vase balusters. To the south lies the music room, now serving as the school chapel, a room 18 metres long finished with complete late 19th-century moulded panelling. A late 19th-century carved stone staircase at the north end of the main range incorporates a carved stone balustrade and two plinths at its foot bearing marble portrait busts of Mr and Mrs John Foster, the parents of Johnston J. Foster, who was the owner responsible for the rebuilding.