St Benedict'S School Wokefield Park Wokefield Park (St Benedict'S School)

St Benedict's School, Wokefield Park

A house, now a community home. The building dates from the early 18th century with early 19th-century additions, a refacing (probably around 1900), internal alterations around 1900, and mid-20th-century additions to the east and west.

The main structure is rendered with hipped slate roofs. The central block rises three storeys across seven bays, flanked by two-storey, two-bay wings connected by two-storey, two-bay linking blocks. The principal facades feature a plinth, rusticated quoins, plat bands, frieze and cornice above the first floor, and a balustraded parapet with urns positioned over recessed bays. Eight chimney stacks punctuate the roofline. Across the nineteen bays, the second, third, seventh, eighth, twelfth, thirteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth project slightly. Windows are predominantly glazing bar sashes with moulded architraves, though the ground floor of the first bay from the right and the central second-floor bay contain 20th-century casements. The first floor sixth bay from the left contains blank windows. At the centre, paired three-fielded panelled doors with plain architrave, keystone, and bracketed cornice serve as the main entrance, sheltered by a five-bay Doric porte cochere with fluted columns, triglyph frieze and cornice. Twentieth-century additions project to left and right, set back from the main elevation.

The garden front is similarly treated, with glazing bar sashes (some with serrated blind boxes), and a blank window in the ground floor left-hand bay. A projecting enclosed porch occupies the central bay, featuring Doric pilasters supporting an entablature and triangular pediment. This porch contains two three-panelled doors with glazed top panels, a rectangular overlight surmounted by a semicircular overlight, and an architrave with imposts and keystone.

The left-hand block is rendered with a hipped slate roof, rising two storeys with a partly rusticated plinth, raised quoins, plat band, cornice and the remains of a balustraded parapet. It spans four bays with glazing bar sashes featuring fluted architraves, and presents three-bay side elevations.

The interior is largely of circa 1900 design executed in a free early 18th-century style. The entrance hall features a black and white flagged floor, panelling, and a panelled plaster ceiling, with a corridor arch to the west and two staircase hall arches to the east supported by Ionic pilasters. A central door to the south has an architrave, pulvinated frieze and broken triangular pediment. A fireplace is fitted with two Corinthian columns supporting an entablature. A draught lobby with two half-glazed doors, Corinthian pilasters, cornice and lugged panelled sides provides transition to the exterior.

The staircase hall features a three-bay Ionic screen with fluted columns and egg and dart cornice. A three-flight square-well staircase has twisted balusters, central carved balustrade panelling on each flight, and wainscot panelling.

The north-west ground-floor room is panelled with a fireplace fitted with a copper hood and glazed tiles. The central southern ground-floor room has a panelled plaster ceiling, doorcases with segmental pediments, and a Jacobean-style chimneypiece incorporating arcaded panelling and Corinthian columns, with a fireplace bearing a copper hood and ceramic tiles. The south-east ground-floor room displays wall plasterwork with plaques and a delicate plaster ceiling, doors with lugged architraves, and a doorcase to the west featuring a large segmental pediment.

The first floor features a central corridor with wall plaques and oval light-wells to the second floor at each end (now blocked). This represents a very complete circa 1900 interior scheme.

The house was owned by the Palmer family at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. The grounds are landscaped with a lake to the south.