Widford House

Widford House is a house dating from 1856, built by the local builder Henry Newman for his own residence. It incorporates an earlier building, with later additions and alterations of minor significance. The 1856 section is constructed of rock-faced regularly coursed dressed limestone with ashlar angle quoins, while the earlier part is roughly coursed rubble. It has stone slate roofs with stepped coped verges, stone carved kneelers, and moulded eaves. The building is in an eclectic Gothic style, extending over three storeys and a gable-lit attic. It has a 2:1:2 bay arrangement with a full-height gabled break to the centre.

Windows on the ground and first floors are mainly 6-paned sashes and fixed-light windows, with the second floor exceptions being the Gothic-traceried sash windows in the centre bay. The ground and first-floor windows have moulded segmental heads with segmental-pointed relieving arches, except for the centre bay with its round-headed arch. Second-floor windows have shouldered arches, with the centre window featuring a pointed arch with Gothic tracery. The attic gables have a cusped trefoil at the apex and two to each gable end.

The central entrance features a richly moulded pointed archway with a hoodmould and imitation Purbeck-marble nook-shafts. The contemporary nail-studded plank door has fleur-de-lys pointed strap hinges, and an overlight with cusped top corners displaying the datestone “AD HN 1856” within a segmental-pointed relieving arch. Integral end stacks have three attached shafts with moulded capping.

Attached to the left gable end is a lower, earlier range, which was re-fronted in 1856 and features a segmental-headed 2-light stone mullion window to the left and a steep-pitched gabled porch to the right, the doorway of which is now infilled with a 20th-century casement window. A contemporary lean-to former coach house extends to the rear, attached to the right gable end of the main range.

The interior has not been inspected but is likely to be of interest. Roughcast additions from around 1914 to the rear of the main range, and a late 20th-century flat-roofed projection attached to the earlier range, are not considered to be of special architectural interest. The property is also known locally as The High House.