Carmelite Monastery

The building is a Carmelite Monastery, originally a country house. It was built in 1606, significantly rebuilt in the mid-18th century, and altered frequently since. The construction is primarily brick with a slate roof.

The north front is accessed through a late 20th-century arcaded brick cloister, which obscures the lower levels of the four-story structure. The four-bay facade features a rebated central two bays contained within octagonal turrets. Fragmentary remains of pedimented brick cross casements survive, while the central windows and flanking extensions mainly have sash windows. A late 20th-century lift shaft abuts the facade to its full height, and the front is topped with a flat parapet and roof.

The east front, dating to around 1750, is a two-story building with seven bays, the central three projecting under a pediment. It includes a basement story, and sash windows with architraves on both upper floors. The ground floor windows are sash windows, some 20th-century additions, with pediments (six segmental, one pointed) added in 1892. A string course separates the stories, and quoins are present at the corners and the central bays. A moulded parapet and cornice complete the elevation.

The south front, from the late 18th century, has two-and-a-half stories over a basement in nine bays, the centre three rebated. A three-bay porch features an entablature supported by two Tuscan columns and two pilasters. Quoins mark the angles of the rebated central section. All windows are sash windows with glazing bars and 19th-century architraves. A console eaves cornice and parapet top the facade. Three-bay, two-story bows are situated to the east and west of the south front, featuring sash windows with glazing bars and lower segmental pediments from the 19th century.

The west front, also from the 18th century, is five bays wide in two-and-a-half stories, with a parapet, giant clasping pilasters, and a three-bay loggia of giant Tuscan columns supporting a pediment bearing a coat of arms. All windows are sash windows with glazing bars.

The interior features a library designed by C. Heathcote Tatham in 1820, with an apsidal end. This space has two Corinthian columns dividing bookcases, a screen of four Corinthian columns opposite, and a plastered bridging beam in front of the bookcases with further Corinthian columns. A marble fireplace has an overmantel of two Corinthian pilasters supporting an open pediment, whilst the ceiling is plastered in three bays of heavily moulded geometric figures. A similar ceiling is found in the drawing room (now the refectory). The main staircase ceiling is dated 1619 and broadly divided into nine square bays with pendant bosses at the junctions. Each bay is decorated with geometrical strapwork, flowers, and fruit in low relief, culminating in a central roundel depicting Noah's Ark, with Noah, his wife, and the Hand of God extending from clouds.