The Hermitage

The Hermitage is a large house, originally built in the early 19th century (c1830) and significantly altered and extended in the late 19th century. It is constructed of coursed stone rubble with dressed stone surrounds to windows and doors, and has tiled roofs.

The left-hand portion of the front elevation dates to around 1830 and is built of coursed stone rubble with stone galleting. It features a crenellated parapet, a hipped tiled roof, and two later 19th-century brick chimneystacks. The facade has two storeys and five windows, with late 19th-century mullioned and transomed casements incorporating hood mouldings. A stone band runs along the parapet, and there is a plinth.

Attached to the right-hand side is a three-storey tower, also crenellated, with moulded stone bands separating the floors. The second floor has double trefoliated mullioned windows featuring a shield displaying five lozenges and three greyhounds. The first floor displays a large three-light mullioned and transomed window with quatrefoils to the top of the trefoil heads, including a stained-glass shield. The ground floor has round-headed arcading and a stone pointed arch, concealed by a large, square wooden porch with a canted canopy supported on elaborate wooden brackets. Pilasters are chamfered and crenellated at the top, and there is a plinth. Four steps are flanked by a wall with six ball finials. A recessed section from the late 19th century is set back to the right.

A parallel range extends to the rear of the building, incorporating three 19th-century mullioned and transomed casements and a 20th-century porch. The return front to the right-hand side of the front elevation also dates to the late 19th century, with two clustered brick chimneystacks. Three gables contain pseudo-machicolations, and three triple mullioned and transomed windows feature hood mouldings on the first floor. The ground floor has a similar window to the right. A large, central five-sided bay with armorial glass in the upper panes is present, alongside a left-side doorcase exhibiting a double door. To the extreme right is a stone gable with a blank shield, kneelers, and a blocked window with a hood moulding. The rear elevation features a gable with a large five-light bay, and a similar bay to the left with a single cambered window and hood moulding. The ground floor includes a stone arch with a hood moulding flanked by lancets.

The interior includes a wooden panel bearing the date 1635. While this panel is likely introduced due to the absence of other evidence of earlier origins, the entrance hall is elaborate with a late 19th-century coffered ceiling and a splayed wooden staircase with turned balusters and scrolled tread ends, alongside a large entrance arch, arched doorcases, and a stone four-centred arched fireplace. The chapel has an elaborate fire surround, including roundels with cupids. A panelled corridor features a scrolled ceiling, and the dining room has a coffered ceiling, a stone fireplace, built-in bookshelves, and a nine-panelled door. The study contains a late 19th-century stone fireplace with a Tudor rose in the spandrels, along with wooden panelled ceilings and walls.