Shaw House

Shaw House is a large house, originally built in 1581 and later used as a school. It is constructed of red brick with Bath stone dressings and an old tile roof. The building has six stacks with diamond shafts and stone coping to the gables, topped with ball finials. The plan is H-shaped, with a basement, two storeys, and an attic. All windows have leaded lights and H-section mullions and transoms.

The south front has five gables, each with a six-light window and returned hood moulds. Four small hipped dormers are set into the roof. Projecting wings flank the sides with stacks on their return walls. A grand hall on the ground floor to the right is illuminated by three large windows. A central, two-storey ashlar porch features Ionic pilasters supporting an entablature with a Greek inscription and a triangular pediment above a moulded arched doorway. A six-light window sits above, also with a Greek inscription, and is crowned by a triangular pediment with three finials and a carved face in the tympanum.

The east front has three gables and two small gabled dormers between them. Two canted bays with parapets rise to the second storey at either end. A large, central first-floor window from the 18th century, nine lights wide, breaks through the string course below. Steps lead to a central doorway with stumpy Corinthian pilasters supporting an entablature and triangular pediment.

The north front mirrors the south front, with five gables and a central porch featuring Doric pilasters and a depressed arched doorway. A circa 1870 addition includes two arches on the ground floor, flanking the porch. Two stacks are located to the left and right of the central gable, and two are in the return walls of the projecting wings.

The interior largely dates to the late 17th and early 18th centuries. A possible 16th-century stone fireplace is found in the attic; reused panelling is visible in a circa 1870 long gallery. Three rooms contain 17th-century panelling and 17th-18th century fireplaces, including a gun room, a “King Charles’ room,” and a “Queen Anne’s Room” featuring ionic pilasters and an overmantel with a blank arcade. Remaining rooms feature 18th-century panelling and stone fireplaces, including the great hall and a staff room. The staircase hall to the east contains a late 17th-century three-flight, square well staircase with twisted balusters, wainscot panelling, and an 18th-century rococo plaster ceiling. The house was built for Thomas Dolman, a local clothier, and served as headquarters for King Charles I during the Battle of Newbury in 1644.