Boblow House

Boblow House is a building of uncertain original purpose, likely a 16th-century hunting lodge, with alterations dating to the 19th century. It is timber framed and clad in painted brick, with prominent red brick chimney stacks forming gables. The roof is covered with handmade red clay tiles. The building is arranged in three bays aligned approximately north-south, with the central bay being shorter than the others. A single-storey extension of two parallel ranges with hipped roofs was added in the 19th century to the north end.

The two-storey structure also has attic space. The east elevation features a 19th-century glazed door with a bracketed gabled hood. There are two windows on each floor, undergoing alteration at the time of survey in October 1983. A large brick chimney stack at the north end incorporates hearths on both ground and first floors, and a dummy window at first-floor level, constructed of hollow-moulded brick with an ovolo-moulded pediment, designed to appear as six lights. An attic window between the two chimney flues has hollow-moulded jambs and sill, with a repaired arch. Three octagonal shafts, the central one being a dummy, are constructed of 19th-century brick. A similar chimney stack is located at the south end, incorporating a timber-framed garderobe at first-floor level; there is no dummy window or dummy shaft here, but the attic window is hollow-moulded all round.

Internally, the axial beams are plain-chamfered, and the horizontal section joists are unchamfered. The south ground floor hearth features a brick depressed arch, hollow-moulded, which is mutilated. The north ground floor hearth has ovolo-moulded brick jambs, a mutilated mantel beam and a moulded plaster frieze with vertical ridges. The south first floor hearth, offset due to the garderobe, has a brick depressed arch with roll-moulded spandrels. The north first floor hearth has a chamfered brick depressed arch with recessed spandrels and semi-octagonal attached shafts with moulded bases. A moulded plaster frieze with vertical ridges and an ovolo-moulded cornice is also present. Transverse and axial beams above the first floor are plain-chamfered, with plastered soffits to the joists. The roof is a clasped purlin roof with gauging holes in the rafters; two dormers have been inserted or enlarged in the west pitch.

This unusual building is situated on top of a rounded hill, affording panoramic views. The concentration of decorative features at the north end suggests the original approach was from that direction, but current access is from the south, facing the garderobe. The site is moated. The building's size and ornamental features suggest its function as a hunting lodge, possibly overseeing a deer park and offering short-term accommodation.