Shellingford House

Shellingford House

A house dating from around 1630, with late 18th-century rear and mid-19th-century left-side extensions. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble with limestone ashlar dressings and a stone slate roof (tiled to the rear). The chimneys are brick, except for the original stacks which are limestone rubble finished with 19th-century brick.

The house follows a double-depth plan in Jacobean style, presenting two storeys with a basement and attic storey. The front elevation shows a five-window range. The front door has been blocked and rendered over. A half-blocked basement window to the right is two-light with stone mullions and cavetto moulding, fitted with one leaded casement. The basement sits beneath a splayed plinth course. Above the basement window is an early 17th-century one-light window with cavetto-moulded surround and label mould, now fitted with a 20th-century casement. The ground floor also features four 20th-century French windows in mid-19th-century openings, with label moulds to other ground-floor windows. The first floor is lit by early 17th-century two-light stone-mullioned cavetto-moulded windows with label moulds and 20th-century leaded casements flanking a similar central four-light window. Similar two-light windows light the attic storey, which features two cross gables. The roof is M-shaped and gabled, with a gable-end stack to the rear right and two internal stacks in the central valley.

The left side wall has a gabled extension of approximately 1850, incorporating a canted bay window, two late 18th-century sash windows beneath early 17th-century-style hood moulds, and a semi-circular brick arch over a mid-19th-century six-panelled door (four glazed) with a late 18th-century fanlight.

To the rear right is an early 16th-century three-light stone-mullioned and moulded window with arched heads and hood mould, much restored; above it is a much-restored 18th-century four-light leaded casement. At the centre of the rear first floor are 18th-century leaded casements set within an early 17th-century two-light wood-mullioned ovolo-moulded window, with a much-restored 18th-century three-light leaded casement to the left. Other rear windows include mid-19th-century sashes, casements, and a gabled dormer. The centre of the rear elevation is occupied by a two-storey extension with two-light leaded casements and a half-hipped roof. Two further cross gables are present to the rear.

The interior contains mid-19th-century six- and four-panelled doors and shutters. The front right room features quartered cyma-moulded beams and a mid-19th-century stone fireplace. The rear right room has chamfered beams and a mid-19th-century decorative tiled floor with an early 17th-century stone fireplace bearing a moulded architrave. The front left room is distinguished by an early 17th-century moulded plaster cornice continued around quartered beams, the soffits of which are decorated with pomegranates and other ornaments. Straight-run and quarter-turn stairs are present in the rear extension.

The main interior feature is an early 17th-century open-well staircase to the rear, supported by posts with carved Doric columns joined by a four-centred arch. The staircase has moulded balusters, string and banister with ball finials and pendentives nearly touching, framing the main exits and entries. The first floor has chamfered beams and substantial timber-framed partition walls. An early 17th-century ribbed cupboard door with butterfly hinges is present in the attic. The roof is obscured but probably of collar truss type.

To the rear right is a mid-18th-century single-storey extension connected to a brew/bakehouse, constructed of limestone rubble with brick dressings, a tiled roof, and a brick stack. The brew/bakehouse features timber lintels over a 19th-century plank door, an 18th-century three-light leaded casement, and 20th-century garage doors to the left, with a hipped roof and central ridge stack. Its interior contains a chamfered beam and segmental arch over a large blocked fireplace in the left room, whilst the right room is open to a two-bay collar truss roof with butt purlins and a notched ridge piece. To the rear left, an early 20th-century block connects the house to a long mid-18th-century stable block. This stable block is constructed of limestone rubble with brick dressings and a tiled and stone slate roof, featuring timber lintels over 18th-century one-, two-, and four-light leaded casements. The rear gable wall has a cusped leaded light set within a semi-circular brick arch.