The Abbey

The Abbey

The Abbey comprises the remains of a 13th-century abbey infirmary, enlarged during the 14th and 15th centuries. In the late 19th century it was substantially converted into a dwelling, with further extensions added in both the early and mid-20th centuries.

The building is constructed of sandstone in ashlar blocks with stone dressings and a slate roof. The west elevation features a mock-timber frontage at its centre, as does a first-floor verandah on the east elevation. The 20th-century extension is built of brick. The principal structure comprises a linear range oriented roughly north-south with projecting cross wings at both north and south ends. The north cross wing contains the former infirmary chapel and has an attached later range to the west.

The principal west-facing façade displays the late 19th-century timber frontage in the centre of the principal range, with the timber cladding arranged in square panels at first floor to create the appearance of box framing. Several sandstone stacks rise from the building, either altered or added in the late 19th century. At the southern end is a projecting stone addition with a lead-covered spirelet featuring louvred openings. The south cross wing is two storeys with a stone mullion window of six lights at first floor and door openings below. The north cross wing displays a projecting stone platform with an acanthus bracket supporting statuary, surmounted by a projecting stone hood with tracery detailing. At ground floor this wing connects to the early 20th-century Arts and Crafts style range to the west, constructed of brick in Flemish bond with a tall brick stack at its east end. This later range is single-storey with a central projecting bay beneath a hipped roof, containing windows with leaded lights and brick nogging in both basket weave and herringbone patterns.

The rear elevation faces the River Trent and is dominated by a large stone stack of 13th-century date from the former abbey infirmary, with a window inserted at ground floor. To the north is a 19th-century two-storey bay window, square on plan, with stone brackets and moulded cornice; the windows contain a single central mullion with leaded lights. The north cross wing displays a 15th-century infirmary chapel tracery window at the centre of its gable, with 19th-century mullion and transom windows on each floor below. To the left of the central stack are two further window openings: at ground floor, pairs of lancet windows with trefoil heads; at first floor, mullion windows with leaded lights and projecting rectangular hood moulds. The first-floor verandah features a timber arcade with slender columns, whilst the external wall above displays mock-Tudor panelling in a diamond pattern. At ground floor are three further windows, the two on the right having stone mullions and hood moulds. A further single leaded window at ground floor is positioned to the west. The 19th-century south cross wing contains two-storey canted bay windows to each floor with chamfered stone mullions. Between these windows a stone band displays scrolling script reading 'PER IL. SVO. CONTRARIO', the Paget family motto roughly translating from Latin as 'By its reverse'. Above is a small tracery window matching the surviving chapel window on the north range.

The north elevation shows surviving springer stones at ground floor of a vaulted undercroft that once extended northward as a two-storey range. At first floor is a blocked stone arch doorway to the right, with two inserted window openings to the left beneath stone segmental arches. The attached early 20th-century single-storey range extends further north than the earlier infirmary building, with a projecting gable at its centre incorporating timber and brick infill. Below is a large curved bay window with leaded lights and heraldic stained glass in the upper lights, with an entrance door and further leaded windows to the left. The south elevation contains two projecting stone stacks with a central leaded mullion window at first floor.

Internally, the 19th-century entrance porch on the west elevation leads to a former entrance hall, now used as a reception area. To the west lies the 20th-century extension containing former billiard rooms with matching barrel-vaulted ceilings featuring intersecting plaster friezes with foliate design. The principal north-south range contains three former reception rooms of the 19th-century dwelling, now in use as dining areas. The southern room, formerly the dining room, displays a carved timber frieze with moulded cornice and ribbed detail with carved bosses, likely dating to the 20th century. From an adjacent passage a substantial ceiling beam runs west-east, with a possible blocked opening on the adjacent west wall. The building contains ancillary service spaces including a 19th-century kitchen with a substantial stone fireplace surround. The surround features a heavily moulded cornice with inscribed words reading 'HE. FILLETH. ALL. THINGS. LIVING. WITH. PLENTEOVSNESS'. The jambs are chamfered and contain relief carvings within the spandrels, the left spandrel containing carved initials.

The first floor accommodates the Burton Club, with some former bedrooms opened up in the 20th century to provide dining and billiard spaces. A 20th-century bar area at the northern end likely occupies the former chapel location. The roof space is accessed via a stair at the southern end of the first-floor dining hall. The 15th-century infirmary roof structure survives across the north-south range and the north cross wing of the former chapel, comprising seven arch-braced trusses with double-side purlins. The construction features crown-posts without a collar purlin, with some inserted iron rods between collar and ridge. Curved arch braces connect the principal rafters to the collar, with common rafters mostly being later replacements.