Padworth House

House, now a college, dating around 1769 and designed by John Hobcraft, who incorporated an earlier 17th-century house into the design. The house is constructed of stucco, with plat bands at sill levels. The central three bays project slightly and feature a triangular pediment; a moulded cornice and parapet top a hipped slate roof punctuated by four chimney stacks. The flanking wings are set back slightly, also stuccoed, with plat bands at cill levels, parapets, and hipped slate roofs. The left wing has two chimney stacks, while the right wing has two stacks and three 19th-century gabled dormers. The main block is three stories high with seven bays, accompanied by a two-story, four-bay wing to the left and a two-story and attic, four-bay wing to the right. The windows are mostly glazing bar sashes, with a prominent central window on the first floor featuring a moulded architrave and brackets supporting the cornice above. The central entrance has glazed doors and a Doric porch composed of two unfluted columns and pilasters, a detailed entablature with triglyphs, guttae and paterae, and a triangular pediment. The wing to the left has a half-glazed door in the third bay from the left, accompanied by a cornice and radial fanlight. The wing to the right features a doorway in the left-hand bay and a 19th-century tripartite sash window in the third bay from the right. The north front has a nine-bay central block, with the three centre bays projecting and a triangular pediment. A central first-floor window is accentuated by an architrave and brackets supporting a cornice. The central entrance has half-glazed doors and a doorcase with Ionic half columns supporting a segmental pediment. Flanking are two-story, three-bay wings set back slightly; the left wing includes a 19th-century gabled dormer. A section of the original wall remains, with a window at the east end.

Inside, much of the plasterwork is attributed to Joseph Rose. The entrance hall is a double-height space, containing a staircase with a wrought iron balustrade around three walls, and groin-vaulted three-bay arched arcades on each floor to the north. The ground floor arcades have Doric columns, while the first-floor columns have “Adamesque” capitals. Plasterwork details include a moulded ceiling, niches to the east and west, wall panels, and swags and medallions in the arches’ spandrels. The drawing room retains original pelmets, an 18th-century fireplace, and a moulded ceiling. The dining room, now a ballroom, has a 19th-century three-bay Doric arcade to the west. The library is notable for its two 18th-century pedimented bookcases. An office contains a Gothick fireplace and overmantel with painted scenes from a Gothick fishing lodge (referenced elsewhere). The saloon, now a dining room, has two arched niches to the east which are 19th-century additions. Parts of the 17th-century panelling remain in the kitchen, as do some 17th-century moulded beams in other rooms to the east. Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops can also be found.