Bell'S Castle And Adjoining Look-Out Tower

Bell's Castle and adjoining look-out tower

A house with adjoining look-out tower dating from the 17th century or earlier, remodelled and extended in the early 19th century for Admiral Bell, with further alterations and additions in 1904 and 1910 by architect Ernest Newton.

The building is constructed in part of limestone ashlar and part of coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings. The roofs are concealed behind tall embattled parapets swept upwards to square corner pinnacles, with ashlar chimney stacks incorporated on each side of the main west tower parapet. The overall composition is asymmetrical, comprising a main two-bay square west tower, a smaller single-bay east tower linked by a central two-bay range, and a large L-shaped wing adjoining the east tower. The building rises to two and three storeys with a basement, and the central range and east tower have a first floor stepped sill band. The style is Gothick throughout.

The main south elevation displays 2:2:1 bays. The outer tower bays project slightly and have corner pilaster strips terminating in the parapet pinnacles. At basement level, bays 1 to 4 contain 2-light chamfered mullioned windows with square heads and 4-centred arched lights. The windows elsewhere are tall and narrow with 2-centred arched heads, raised architraves and 2-light leaded casements; those on the ground floor have Y-tracery. Bays 1 and 2 of the west tower each contain two wider ground floor windows, two first floor windows and a central second floor window. Bays 3 and 4 of the central range have two windows on both floors. Bay 5, the east tower, has a first floor window with latticed glazing bars beneath the arched head.

The former main entrance lies below Bay 5. It consists of a square ashlar porch with a flat roof behind an embattled parapet with a string course at its base and gabled and crocketted corner pinnacles; a tall weathervane stands on the left pinnacle. The porch features a chamfered 2-centred archway with a hoodmould and returns. Within, eleven steps lead up to a similarly arched doorway with flanking pilasters and double doors.

To the rear of the east tower is a lean-to early 20th-century addition with an embattled parapet and leaded casements. The east wing incorporates part of the original 17th-century building which was extended and altered by Newton. This wing is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with a plain tiled roof and brick ridge stacks. A two-bay range adjoins the main building, with a five-bay south return composed of two two-bay wings and a central single-bay wing. The wing is mainly two storeys, with all windows being leaded casements. The south elevation of the return features a ground floor 2-light window, two gabled half-dormers with 2-light windows and glazed double doors with flanking lights. In the angle with the main building is a ground floor with a 3-light, 2-light and single-light casement, a first floor 2-light window and two 3-light windows. There is a central half-glazed door with a plaque above it decorated with the Holland-Martin crest. An upper-level door is approached by external ashlar steps with cast iron railings; at the top stands a cast iron balustrade decorated with the figure of Neptune, fish and shells. The current main entrance is located on the east side of the east wing, featuring a semi-circular metal canopy on wrought iron brackets and a half-glazed door.

Internally, the building is noted as having several pointed archways and pointed niches throughout.

The adjoining look-out tower stands at the south-west corner of the main building and is said to be of 17th-century or earlier origin. It is constructed of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings and has a square plan. The tower comprises three stages with a plain parapet and square corner pinnacles. The south front and east side elevations each have a second stage semi-circular headed light with a hoodmould and a third stage basket-arched light. The west elevation has a ground floor rectangular light. The main entrance on the east side features a chamfered basket-headed archway. The tower is linked to the main building by a short wall, approximately one yard long and 20 feet high, which has a 4-centred headed archway above which is a pointed-arched opening on moulded corbels.