Cokenach House Including The Wing

Cokenach House, now divided into two dwellings, is a country house with service wing located at Barkway. It represents successive phases of building and remodelling spanning from the 16th century to the early 20th century.

The origins of the site date to around 1570, when fragmentary remains of a lodgings range were built for Sir R. Chester. The main block was constructed in 1716 for R. Chester, replacing an earlier gatehouse of around 1603. The house was subsequently altered and extended in 1833 for Sir W. Clinton, with further alterations made around 1900 for A. Crossman and around 1925 for D. Crossman.

The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings, featuring steeply pitched hipped tiled roofs. It forms a long double-depth block with later additions. The structure comprises two storeys with an attic and cellar.

The entrance front displays a symmetrical composition of 4:3:4 bays, with the central bays breaking forward slightly and rising to three storeys to reflect the earlier gatehouse. The right section has four more widely spaced bays. Ground floor outer bays and first floor windows are fitted with glazing bar sashes with segmental heads and open moulded frames. Fluted and capped keystones appear above, with apron panels below the first floor windows, while dummy windows feature in the right bays. An eaves cornice runs across the front.

The central bays are distinguished by orange brick dressings. The upper storey features a dentilled and moulded brick cornice with shorter sashes, while the parapet above carries balustraded panels with dentilled stone capping. An early 20th-century ground floor addition spans 2:3:2 bays across most of the front. This addition features ashlar stone to the centre with a central entrance of double raised six-panelled doors topped by a traceried fanlight and an aedicular Ionic doorcase with a broken segmental pediment. Flanking this are tall 4/4 pane sashes with segmental heads and fluted keystones, with outer Ionic pilasters at the edges. The outer bays of this addition are in red brick set back slightly, with sashes matching those on the main block above and ashlar pilaster strips at the ends, with a cornice supporting a coped parapet with balustraded panels. Single sashes feature on the return elevations.

The main roof carries three 16-pane sashed dormers to each side of the central bays, with pedimented heads and intermediate segmental pediments. Four cross-axial ridge stacks with stone cornices rise from the main roof, with further cross-axial stacks on the rear roof beyond a central valley.

The right return elevation is five bays wide and was widened to the rear in the early 19th century. A ground floor canted bay window with steps up to a French window distinguishes this elevation, flanked and topped by first floor sashes as on the front. First floor apron panels and an eaves cornice run across, with two segmental pedimented dormers above.

To the left lies an early 19th-century single-bay addition of two storeys, featuring a blind window to the first floor on the front. A two-storey canted bay window appears on the return, with recessed sashes set in gauged brick flat arched heads. A rainwater head dated 1833 marks this section. Further left is an early 20th-century single-storey addition with a small sash window and steps rising to an entrance flanked by a Doric surround.

The garden elevation displays an informal 3:3:2 bay arrangement. Three bays to the left were built out in 1833, marked by a rainwater head inscribed with the date and initials "WHC". These bays feature sashes larger than those on the front but with concealed frames, and two pedimented dormers above. Set back to the centre are three early 18th-century bays with first floor sashes matching those on the front and a segmental pedimented dormer. The ground floor of the central section features an early 20th-century tetrastyle in antis Ionic verandah with a blocking course and arms to the centre. Rusticated end piers support the structure, with the returns featuring tiled and key-blocked round-headed openings topped by terracotta caps to respond shafts. The soffit is coffered with lantern openings, and an inner round-headed French window is flanked by sashes. Two bays to the right are set back further and carry a rainwater head dated 1716, with sashes matching those on the front and two pedimented dormers above.

The interior has been extensively remodelled around 1900 and around 1925 with neo-classical details. A large Corinthian entrance hall features slate dot paving. Some 18th-century fielded panelling survives in the billiard room. Extending to the rear left at right angles is an early 19th-century service wing, which rebuilds an earlier 16th-century lodgings range.

The service wing is constructed of red brick with a hipped slate roof. Its inner elevation to the garden comprises six bays across two storeys, with recessed glazing bar sashes set in gauged brick flat arched heads and a stone coped parapet. Towards the left and centre are part-glazed doors, with a blind first floor opening on the right. The two-bay rear end carries glazing bar sashes with 6/9 panes on the first floor.

The outer elevation is largely faced in plum stock brick. Towards the front, a two-bay projection features ground floor sashes with thick glazing bars and a first floor canted oriel with tile hanging, topped by an eight-light flat-headed dormer. Three bays to the left have ground floor sashes with thick glazing bars and an entrance with double panelled doors, all set within gauged brick blind arcading, with first floor sashes above. Further left stands an early 19th-century square block measuring 3 by 3 bays and two storeys high with a hipped slate roof. The elevation to a small service yard shows a central entrance with double raised six-panelled door and fanlight in a 20th-century pedimented doorcase, with a blind first floor opening above. Outer recessed sashes with gauged brick flat arched heads are set at the sides, with boxed eaves above. A garage addition appears on the left return, with sashes to the rear.

Plans of the earlier buildings were drawn in 1578 when the house was being considered as a stop on a royal progress. The house was formerly known as Cockenhatch.