Speedwell Castle

Speedwell Castle is a house built in the mid-18th century. It features red brick construction with a hipped slate roof and brick stacks, designed in the Batty Langley style of Gothick architecture. The building stands three storeys high, adorned with a modillion cornice and a parapet. The façade has a symmetrical arrangement of windows in a 1:1:1 pattern, with three-storey canted bays on both the left and right sides, each containing five lights. The ground and first-floor windows have glazing bar sashes, although the glazing pattern is not original and was previously based on octagons. The second floor has pointed windows, and there is a playful mix of round and ogee heads on the ground and first floors, all framed by decorative plaster surrounds. The round-headed windows feature key blocks, while the ogee-headed windows are topped with acorns. All windows have plaster sills, with those on the canted bays being continuous and supported by brackets at the ground and first-floor levels. The central door has octagonal panels and is framed by an ogee-headed portico, which features a gnome instead of a finial and is supported by clustered, banded columns.

Inside, the house boasts a Chinese Chippendale staircase. The east room on the ground floor has pedimented doorcases and a decorative cornice, while the west room on the first floor retains an original fireplace with a chequered frieze and original cupboards on either side. The east room on the first floor also has a fireplace with shaped, fretted friezes, shaped surrounds, enriched dados, and cornices, along with several original doors. It is reputed that the house was built by William Rock, who died in 1753, using proceeds from betting on the racehorse Speedwell.