Gaynes Hall

Gaynes Hall is a country house built around 1800 by architect George Byfield for Sir James Duberly. The building is now used as a borstal. It is constructed of gault brick that was originally plaster rendered, with stone dressings on the plinth and parapet. The house features four linked ranges, each topped with a shallow-pitched hipped slate roof. The stone parapet includes a central panel on the south front that is incised and decorated with rose paterae ornament, and there is a moulded main cornice.

The structure has three storeys and seven bays, with a larger central bay. The windows have cambered arches and are fitted with recessed hung sashes that include glazing bars. The ground floor showcases semi-circular headed arches leading to six recessed bays, each containing a full-length hung sash window, and a semi-circular headed arch over the central bay. Above this is a pedimented full-length casement window with glazing bars, situated above a semi-circular Ionic portico that is topped with a plain wrought iron balustrade. The entrance features a double doorway set in a segmental headed arch, flanked by pilasters with fluted console brackets at the capitals. The doors are glazed and include sidelights and a fanlight.

Inside, there is an oval vestibule with round-headed niches on either side. The ground floor rooms, hall, and staircase are adorned with early 19th-century slender bolection moulded panelling, along with a moulded cornice and frieze. The hall is illuminated from above and features an open string staircase with four flights. There are panelled shutters and six-panelled doors throughout. The south-east ground floor room contains an early 19th-century white marble fireplace and a doorcase with a papier mache vine leaf surround. The foundations of a late 17th-century house that once stood on the site can be seen in the cellars. Additionally, a ground floor room in the north-east corner has a late 17th-century bolection moulded fireplace and a similarly styled doorcase.