Gowthorpe Manor House

Gowthorpe Manor House

A house dating from the 16th and 17th centuries with additions and alterations made in 1908, built for the Styward (Steward) family. The building is constructed of brick and part-encased timber frame, with plain tile roofs and crowstepped gables. It is arranged in two storeys with an attic.

The western range dates from the early 16th century as a timber-framed structure, now encased in brick and dated 1669. Four bays remain of the original six. The western facade comprises three bays with varied ages of brickwork and crowstepped gables. At the left end is an internal stack with two octagonal 19th-century shafts in 16th-century style with decorative moulded brick and cusped caps. A single-storied porch stands at the centre bay, featuring an ashlar facade with spiked stone ball finials to the gable and gabled parapet base. The porch has a semi-circular arch with trefoils to the spandrels and is dated 1574 above; it contains no interior door or doorway. The return walls are rendered with a cyma recta cornice. The openings to the 1908 facade feature Tudor grille leaded lights with heavy wooden frames having ovolo moulded mullions and transoms. The ground floor has four lights to bay one and two sets of 2-light openings in former openings with cambered arches to bay three, all with square hood moulds. The first floor has three 2-light openings. The attic features three pedimented roof dormers of 1983 with lead roofs and returns, fitted with 2-light wrought iron leaded casements in 17th-century style. The right return to the south has a 5-light opening to the ground floor matching the west facade, and the first floor has a 4-light mullioned and transomed window in rendered brick with pediment and quoined jambs. The gable was rebuilt with a similar pedimented attic window of 2 lights and bears the date 1669 in iron. The left return to the north, built in English bond, cuts off two bays of the timber-framed range and has three blocked openings at the centre with cambered heads, now in front of a later internal stack.

The rear of the western range shows a link to the eastern range at its centre. To the south of the link is a flint base with an external stack; the central portion of this stack has been removed to form a tall recess with a 4-centred arch. A single stack to the first floor is capped by a 19th-century octagonal shaft in 16th-century style. To the north of the link is a three-storeyed stair turret of colourwashed brick, flint and stone, coloured on the north side and rendered on the east. The ground and first floors to the north and east have 3-light hollow chamfered mullioned openings, with small 2-light openings to the second floor.

The interior of the western range includes a ground floor now remodelled as one room in the 18th century with two fluted pilasters to front and rear, panelled wainscoting, and semi-circular shelved cupboards to recesses either side of the rear wall fireplace. The north gable end fireplace features a heavy carved wood surround; both fireplaces are fitted with Dutch tiles. The first floor has a massive doorway with quarter mouldings from the stair turret and a lobby with 17th-century panelling. The south room may be part of an earlier cross wing, with a heavy corner post and braced tie to the east and a later timber-framed partition. The attic contains four numbered bays, formerly six, with a three-tiered roof featuring principal rafters of 15 metres, clasped purlins and collars, and curved wind braces; the roof has been partially renewed.

The stair turret is a later 16th-century addition with an entrance now from the link featuring a 4-centred doorway with treble roll mouldings and spandrels carved with the Styward crest and arms. The door is square-headed, ledged and battened with wrought iron fittings. The wooden stair newel has treads with decorative stops at the newel; the lower treads have been renewed. Timber framing between the turret and range is visible.

The link between the eastern and western ranges dates from the early 17th century and is built of English bond brick with pantiles, two storeys high and partly encasing the stair turret to the south. The north facade has a moulded brick platband, with a rendered brick cross window to the left at ground floor level having Tudor grille leaded lights, and a brick doorway to the right formerly rendered with a semi-circular arch and panel above, flanked by brick pilasters containing semi-circular moulded floral decoration. The south facade has a similar doorway to the right at ground floor level, and 3-light openings to the left and centre at first-floor level with rendered mullions and transoms.

The eastern range is early 17th-century brick with crowstepped gables. The eastern facade has a forward central two-storeyed wing with a crowstepped gable, all in English bond, comprising three bays of two storeys and attic. A gabled forward wing to the east extends to two storeys and attic. Two-storeyed service ranges of 1908 extend to the north-east from the angle of the eastern wing and main range. Internal gable-end stacks mark the main range; two 19th-century shafts to the south stack are of moulded brick with castellated caps, whilst four similar 19th-century shafts to the north stack have rose decoration. Bay one to the east has windows of 1908 as on the west range, with 3-lights to ground floor and 2-lights to first floor with lattice leaded lights. The forward wing at the central bay has a part external stack to the first floor with two 19th-century shafts as on the main range. Openings flanking the stack consist of single transomed lights as on the south gable of the west wing, with two similar square attic lights. A single-storey porch has been added to the ground floor in the style of the 1574 porch on the west wing: it is constructed of brick with a stone gable parapet as on the west range. The entablature has drop finials left and right, with a cartouche bearing the date 1574 as on the west porch. The door is a renewed ledged and battened 4-centred example with spandrels bearing the Styward arms and crest. A lozenge opening occupies the gable pediment, with small lights to the returns probably of 1908. The left return of the range to the south has a small opening at ground floor to the left, first floor with two rendered brick cross windows with pediments, and attic with two small square openings of rendered brick with rendered pediments and quoined jambs. The right return to the north displays some lozenge decoration of patterned headers and a moulded brick platband. Two inserted openings occupy the ground floor, the first floor has two rendered brick openings as on the south return, and the attic has two blocked openings as on the south gable but with a vertical iron bar.

The interior of the eastern range includes a ground-floor central cross passage from the wing to the link. The room to the north has a large fireplace to the gable with inglenook seats and a large bressumer. Lambs tongue stopped tie beams are visible. A fossil rendered mullioned window opens to both east and west walls. The room to the south has a narrowed fireplace in the chimney bay with a 4-centred stone arch and Steward arms in wood above, flanked by a semi-circular headed arch surround with guilloche decoration. A cupboard to the right features cockscomb hinges. A large attic extends across six bays with chimney bays at either end. The roof is three-tier butt purlin with curved braces. Purlins are lowered to bays two and five to the west; one now carries an inserted dormer. The principal rafters are chamfered. Brick fireplaces occupy each gable; the southern fireplace has a basket arch with chamfered jambs bearing decorative stops and an oven to the left. The northern gable fireplace has a 4-centred arch with nick-stopped chamfers to the jambs.

The service range dated 1908 in iron extends to the north-east and is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with crowstepped gables and wood mullioned windows as on the west range. An attached garden wall of brick continues the north return of the west range and returns to the west with an arched gateway.