Longstowe Hall

Longstowe Hall is a mansion house with origins in the late 16th century, extensively remodelled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The early 20th-century alterations and additions were undertaken by Sir John W Simpson. The construction is primarily red brick with stone dressings, and features plain tiled roofs with stacks replicating those of the late 16th or early 17th centuries, characterized by octagonal shafts with moulded brickwork and projecting, linked cappings.

The original design was an E-shaped house of the late 16th century, initially facing north-west. This was altered in the late 19th century and again in the early 20th, when ranges were added to the south-east, creating a new principal front on that side. The north-west facade is two storeys and attics, with three central gables containing brickwork from the earlier house in the lower courses. A late 19th-century porch of three storeys sits centrally, featuring a shaped gable and Ketton limestone surrounds to the cross-frame casements, flanked by obelisks. A late 19th-century central fluted Doric portico, built of Ketton limestone, spans the three central window bays and includes a round-headed, rusticated arch to the central doorway. The pediments to several windows on the north-west front replicate those of the original house. The north-east front incorporates a four-stage stair turret with an open-sided top stage and a leaded polygonal roof with a weathervane. Lead rainwater heads and downpipes dated 1912 bear the initials ADB. A doorway with a four-centred arch is featured, along with a fanlight with a depressed ogee arch and finial. The fenestration consists of hung sashes with sheet glass.

The south-east front is a long, narrow expanse of red brick in Flemish bond, with two storeys and attics and two dormers. There is a four-gable facade and a central porch of Ketton limestone, incorporating a round-headed outer arch with egg and dart continuous moulding, flanked by a Jacobean-style pilaster supporting an entablature and balustrade. Panelled double doors are set within a round-headed arch.

The interior contains reset main beams from the 15th and 16th centuries. The north-west-south-east roof retains 16th-century principal rafters and purlins morticed flush to them, and cambered collars. A wing adjoining the main range has a 16th-century roof with stop-chamfered principals with the purlins morticed to them. Several ground-floor rooms contain extensive continental wood carvings. The original house is attributed to Anthony Cage, who died in 1603. The estate was purchased by the Stanleys in 1857, who made significant alterations around 1880. Further alterations and extensions were carried out from 1897 to 1914 by Mr Briscoe, with Sir John W Simpson as the architect.