Milton Ernest Hall

Milton Ernest Hall is a Grade I listed country house located on Bedford Road in Milton Ernest. Designed by William Butterfield, it was built between 1853 and 1858 and is notable for its confident Gothic Revival style. The structure is made of coursed local limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, featuring red brick relieving arches over the windows, some chequer brick and stone work, and clay tile roofs.

The main block of the house is L-shaped, topped with a steep high roof and tall rectangular multiple ridge stacks. The north (entrance) facade displays a sequence of three gables that descend from left to right, with the left gable being half-hipped. The entrance is a prominent two-storey projection on the right, and to its left is the main staircase, which features three large traceried windows set under chequer brick and stone work.

The south (garden) front includes a gable on the left side, with two 2-light windows separated by a buttress on the ground floor and two more 2-light windows on the first floor. To the right, there is a three-storey projection from a shallow hipped gable, adorned with tall narrow bay windows and an elaborate timber gable. The roof has four dormers, and the windows are accented with alternate stone and brick voussoirs.

The east elevation features a two-storey bay on the left with a conical roof, two dormers, and a conservatory, along with two ground floor buttresses and five pairs of first-floor windows. The west (river) elevation has kitchen and scullery areas recessed below terraces, showcasing four gables and three decorated roof ridges behind. The garden area, now a garden centre, is defined by stone walls that are attached to the house.

Inside, the hall has been altered but retains wooden chimney pieces with simple Gothic detailing and Gothic tracery in the staircase.