Pull Court,Screen,Archway And Gates

This is a country house built between 1834 and 1839 by E Blore for Canon E C Dowdeswell. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with coursed blue lias stone in the entrance court, and has slate roofs with tall, clustered stone stacks that have been truncated. The house is in an Elizabethan/Jacobean style, with two storeys and an attic, arranged in a U-plan around a rear entrance court. Mullion and transom windows are present throughout, along with eaves dormers that originally had shaped ogee gables rising from a balustraded parapet; much of the balustrade and dormer finials have since been removed.

The symmetrical South, garden front has five bays and a projecting central feature resembling a tower. This central feature has square angle turrets terminating in stone ogee caps, flanking an elaborate shaped attic dormer. The ground and first floors have four-light windows. A string course runs across the entire front at first floor level. There are single window ranges flanking the centre, featuring three-light windows and hood-moulds over the first-floor windows. The outer bays project slightly and have large shaped gables with finials, as well as two-storey, three-sided bays with stone panels above the first floor. The West side is similar, with three bays and gables flanking a central section.

Attached to the left is a two-storey blue lias stone service range with damaged stone shaped gables over the three first-floor windows, and three ground-floor windows of three-light, three-light, and five-light arrangements. The North entrance court showcases a limestone centrepiece with a tall shaped gable above a six-light mullion and transom attic window. The Dowdeswell arms are carved at first floor level and an elaborate arched, carved doorway leads to a pair of double doors. Flanking this are full-height hall windows of twelve lights, set behind a panelled parapet and framed by thin, square turrets rising to stone ogee caps. Blue lias stone two-window ranges are on either side, with three-light and single-light windows and dormers over the three-light windows. This section returns on each side with single-light and two-light windows, terminating in a shaped coped gable with a truncated end wall stack. Extending from this are two-storey service wings, also with shaped gables at the North end. The East wing has a four-window range, while the West wing has three. Shaped gables are above the upper windows.

The courtyard is enclosed by a stone screen with narrow arched openings between piers. It features a fine central archway with stone piers framing the arch, an ornamented keystone, and moulding over the spandrels. A panelled frieze sits above and a heavy, stepped top is decorated with a central block carved with a seahorse motif and a carved griffin head. Elaborate, Jacobean-style iron gates complete the arrangement. The service court on the East side is of lesser interest.

Inside, the full-height hall has ashlar walls and a flat timber roof. There's a gallery on two sides and a large timber staircase set to the left. Jacobean detailing is present throughout. The library and one other ground floor room have Jacobean-style decoration.