Ombersley Court

SO 8463 OMBERSLEY CP -

9/70 Ombersley Court

25.12.52 GV I

Country house in landscaped park; seat of Lord Sandys. 1724-32 by Francis Smith of Warwick for the first Lord Sandys; refaced and altered by J Webb for the Marchioness of Downshire 1812/14; further mid-C20 alterations. Brick with stone dressings, refaced in ashlar, with ashlar additions. Original house of two storeys and attic and seven bays with north and south wings; Webb refaced this house, demolished the side wings and built a new north wing to link the house with the new stables quad- rangle (qv); this wing was demolished in the mid-C20. Present east front elevation: three storeys with moulded cornice and blocking course, plinth and sill bands to first and second floors; seven bays: 2:3:2, central bays break forward; ground floor windows are 15-pane sashes, first floor windows are glazing bar sashes and second floor windows are 6-pane sashes; ground floor of central bays has tetrastyle portico of coupled Ionic columns; central doorway has moulded architrave and part-glazed double doors. Side and rear elevations are without specific ornamentation. Interior: Access refused description based on written sources; very splendid, retaining much of its early Georgian decoration and woodwork. Entrance Hall: two storeys with gallery facing entrance and connecting upper rooms; lower part has Ionic pilasters and blank niches; opposing stone fireplaces surmounted by heraldic devices; ceiling divided into compartments with four pendants in arches. Saloon: situated beside hall with windows facing west; oak panelled with pilasters, fine door surround and marble chimney piece. Dining room and rose boudoir to left and right of saloon also oak panelled, with pilasters of different orders, marble fireplaces and all superbly detailed. The main staircase is also of the Smith period, and is of oak with handrail, treads and landings inlaid with walnut; open-well type, each step has three balusters, two spirals with a fluted columnar one in between, moulded tread ends, handrail and dado; above is a contemporary plaster ceiling with oval moulding and rich modillion cornice. Chinese Room: on first floor has painted silk panels framed with. imitation bamboo, drapes and appropriate furnishings, fashionable during Regency. The house is decorated throughout with a magnificent collection of paintings and furnishings still owned by the Sandys family. In the Court grounds are some remarkable specimen trees including two immense Wellingtonias and the second largest European Larch in the British Isles. (CL, cxiii, 34, 94, 152; VCH, BoE).

Listing NGR: SO8418963389