Foxwold

Foxwold

A large house dated 1883, built by Sir Alexander Stenning for Horace Noble Pym, with builders Durtnells. The building is designed in the Arts and Crafts style.

The house is constructed of brick in Flemish bond with sandstone window dressings, sections of timber-framing with plastered infill, and tile-hanging comprising bands of plain and fishscale tiles. The roof is tiled with five tall ribbed brick chimneystack. The plan is roughly rectangular with a spur projecting to the north-west.

The building is of two storeys and attics with highly irregular fenestration to the entrance front, which comprises nine windows. A plinth runs around the base. The south-west or entrance front features a pair of conjoined gables to the right with bargeboards and tile-hanging, each containing a three-light wooden mullioned window. The first floor has timber-framing with curved braces and two triple mullioned and transomed windows. The ground floor displays two triple sandstone windows with ovolo moulding, though later 20th-century sashes have been inserted below them. Two brick and sandstone buttresses flank this section. An adjoining bay to the left has a triple hipped dormer, with two mullioned and transomed casements to the first floor, which features bands of plain and fishscale tiles, and a tall triple-height four-light casement to the ground floor.

A brick and timber-framed porch is attached to the left, with a tiled roof and four cinquefoil-headed lights to the sides. The front of the porch features a four-centred arch with floral spandrels, double half-glazed doors, and trefoil-headed lights to the sides. To the left stands a large timber-framed gable, close-studded with curved braces. The second floor displays a four-light mullioned and transomed window with pseudo-machicolations. A coved cornice with plastered decoration includes the date 1883, male terms, phoenixes, and youthful terms with floral swags.

The first floor has two paired mullioned and transomed windows with mostly original leaded lights to the left, and a four-light four-bay wooden staircase window with leaded lights in the top two tiers. The ground floor has three casements. To the left is the service end. The ground floor is of red brick, whilst the first floor is tile-hung with courses of plain and fishscale tiles. One hipped dormer retains some original glazing. The second floor has two mullioned windows; the ground floor a double mullioned and transomed window. A projecting gable with timber-framing to the top and tile-hanging below contains one window to each floor, the first-floor window retaining original blue leaded lights. Projecting to the north-west is a one-storey kitchen with a very steeply pitched tiled roof and a gable with timber-framing and bargeboards.

The south-west side elevation features a tall chimney-stack and a sandstone plaque bearing two putti and strapwork enclosing a circular panel with the initials HP and the date 1883.

The north-east or garden front presents a varied composition. To the left is an angled tile-hung gable with a triple mullioned window to the attic. A coved cornice displays masks of young and old men and strapwork decoration. The first floor is timber-framed with a four-light mullioned and transomed window retaining original glazing in the upper parts. A curved sandstone bay projects at ground-floor level. An adjoining section has one window to the first floor, a 20th-century window to the ground floor, and a two-centred arched door. This is followed by a projecting two-storey canted bay with a metal finial bearing a sphere; the first floor is timber-framed, the ground floor sandstone. A recessed section features a hipped dormer with original blue glass, a first-floor mullioned and transomed window, and a double mullioned window to the ground floor. A projecting gable with close-studding and tile-hanging follows, containing a four-light mullioned and transomed window to the attic. The coved cornice displays plastered male terms with phoenixes, terms fighting beasts growing from their tails, and sun motifs. The first floor has two three-light mullioned and transomed windows with timber-framing and curved braces. The ground floor features a tall five-light canted bay with a central French window. The recessed end served as the service area. The second floor has two timber-framed gables with three windows, two retaining blue opaque glass, supported on four timber brackets. The first floor has three windows and is tile-hung. The ground floor contains two mullioned and transomed windows divided by a sandstone elliptical arched window and a six-panelled door behind. A cast-iron plaque is attached to the wall. To the extreme right is a one-storey service range of red brick with sandstone dressings and a tiled roof. An octagonal turret rises from the roof, with a lead base, wooden louvres above, and a shingled roof with metal finial. A central timber-framed gable contains a mullioned and transomed window and five windows with narrow lights. The north-west side has an external chimney-stack and a gable end with upper floors tile-hung, mullioned and transomed windows, and a gabled entrance to the rear door.

Internally, the Staircase Hall features a strapwork ceiling and panelling to a height of approximately six feet, with a fireplace displaying wooden panelling and marble. Four-centred arched doors and three arches, the central one taller, lead to the staircase, which has turned balusters and newel posts with ball finials, dado panelling, Morris and Co wallpaper, and a glazed screen with a modified Venetian window to the landing.

The Library was originally L-shaped, with one part partitioned off in the later 20th century. It retains a strapwork ceiling and a wooden fireplace with fielded panelling and an ash fireplace with a Japanese pattern to the coving. An elliptical arch to the north-west originally had settles, since removed. Original built-in bookshelves survive. Another elliptical arch has been filled in, and the partitioned part of the original Library retains original built-in seating.

The Dining Room features a wooden fireplace with fluted columns and ovolo moulding, and at the time of inspection also housed some of the original Library bookshelves. The Kitchen retains original plank panelling and cupboards. The Pantry preserves original dressers. The former Servants Hall has a wooden fireplace, three wooden cupboards, and a moulded cornice, with servants' bells and a dumb waiter remaining in place. The Larder features an arch-braced roof, tiled walls and floor, and wooden shelves. A Game Larder contains hooks to the ceiling.

The first floor includes a Principal bedroom with painted panelling and a cast-iron fireplace with tiled surround. An adjoining room, probably an upstairs sitting room, has a fireplace with wooden panelling, marble and tiles, and built-in seating. A further room contains a wooden and marble fireplace with tiled surround. The former Schoolroom has a fireplace with tiled surround. The attic floor features boarded ceilings and corridors and incorporated a trunk room. A Book Room has a tiled fireplace. Further boarded rooms contain wooden and tiled fireplaces.