Ford House

LEEK

SJ9856NE MARKET STREET 611-1/5/87 (East side) 13/04/51 Ford House

GV II

House, now in use as offices. Early C18, extended and remodelled late C19. Coursed and squared stone with stone flagged roof. EXTERIOR: original building 3 storeys, a 3-window range with later rear wing and parallel service range. Central entrance in moulded architrave with Triglyph frieze flanked by early C19 bow windows with reeded architraves. Upper windows are 16-pane sashes to first floor, with 12-pane sash with entablature carried on brackets over doorway. 8 and 6-pane sashes to attic storey. Plain cill bands to each floor. Ornate lead-work rainwater goods. Full-height mullioned and transomed stair window in return elevation to Stockwell Street. Full-height rear wing (possibly built or remodelled late C19) to right of main range, the left-hand angle filled in with late C19 2-storeyed extension. Single-storey range to right of main elevation, comprising 2-window range facing garden, probably part of late C19 alterations; top lit by paired domes with stone tracery in each bay. Brick service wing offset to rear, also 3-storeyed. Built in 3 phases (but mainly late C19), with gable to left balanced by chamfered stone stack to right. INTERIOR: survives largely as remodelled late C19, with detail in Arts and Crafts or Renaissance Revival style: principal reception room (to right of central entrance hall) has heavy wood fireplace, the pilasters enriched with strapwork etc., and with marquetry inlaid in the overmantel, beneath low-relief plasterwork hood. Left-hand front room has fireplace with copper hood and tiles by de Morgan. Study to rear has inglenook fireplace with bench built into heck-wall, enriched timberwork posts and hoods, and incorporates several fitted cupboards. Tiles surrounding fireplace possibly also de Morgan. Staircase in rear corner of original building possibly contemporary with the house: twisted balusters and moulded tread ends, but stained glass in full-height stair window relates to remodelling of interior: figurative glass representing the rivers of Staffordshire. Other interior features relating to the remodelling of the house include the first-floor bathroom, with bath and integral shower contained in wood-panelled case.

HISTORICAL NOTE: the house was formerly the home of the Sneyd family, and although there is no firm attribution, stylistic evidence would suggest that the remodelling was the work of William Larner Sugden.

Listing NGR: SJ9854656626