Orangery, Steps and Four Cherub Statues on Pedestals

MATERIALS: yellow brick with the front and side elevations and decorative details in cement render. The main roof is a glazed, cast-iron frame with a shallow pitch, and the projecting end pavilions have domes with decorative tiles.

EXTERIOR: the Orangery has a long, rectangular plan. A single-storey building with a vaulted undercroft divided into thirteen bays with tall, round-arched windows 1:4:1:4:1, those to the end pavilions and centre containing French windows, the others with casement windows, all with glazing bars. The side elevations have three bays: one is blind, one has a casement window, and the end pavilion has a French window. The window in the north elevation has double doors of render over timber, disguised to look like part of the wall and large enough to allow orange trees to be moved through. The openings have decorative keystones, those to the central and outer bays are more ornate, containing the de Grey family crest of the staff and coronet. The pilasters between each aperture have capitals consisting of corbeilles with roses, beneath which tapering panels with carved tassels hang down. The central doorway is flanked by a caryatid and atlas, the parapet above each surmounted by an urn with festoons. The main block has a balustraded parapet with small urns placed above the pilasters, and the pavilion parapets have an ornamental crest forming the pediment. In contrast, the rear elevation is utilitarian in character. It has exposed brickwork and contains five arched doorways giving access to the undercroft, and thirteen semi-circular windows above.

INTERIOR: the floor is covered with modern ceramic tiles in a black and white diamond pattern with red tiles forming a border. A cast-iron pump is located near the north wall, and an elaborate, classical, c.1600 stone fireplace with the de Grey coat of arms is positioned in the west wall.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: located at each corner of the steps leading up to the Orangery are four early-C18, stone statues of cherubs on pedestals made by an unknown Flemish sculptor, possibly from a fossil marble of continental origin. The statue at the top of the steps on the south side holds an open book in front of him; that on the north side holds a puppy to her chest; the statue on the base of the steps on the south side holds a bird's nest in both his hands; and that on the north side clutches a torch to his right side.