Glympton Park And Attached Summerhouse

Glympton Park and Attached Summerhouse

A small country house with an attached summerhouse, set within parkland. The main house dates to the mid-18th century but was substantially remodelled and extended with a service wing in 1846 for G.H. Barnett. It is constructed of limestone ashlar, with the service wing in dressed limestone with ashlar dressings. The roofs are of slate, arranged in two spans.

The house is organized as a rectangular block with a two-storey service wing to the north. The main building rises to two storeys with an attic story, while the service wing is two storeys in height.

The south front features a moulded plinth, chamfered quoins, a first-floor cill band, and a moulded cornice with parapet above the windows. The parapet is balustraded with raised and fielded panels between plain dies and a moulded rail. The chimney stacks are of ashlar, consisting of paired square shafts with moulded caps: two stand in front of the front ridge, one to the rear, two integral stacks to the right end, one to the left end, and one lateral stack to the rear. Four hipped dormers with glazing-bar sashes punctuate the roofline. The elevation is arranged in two-three-two bays with a central break. Glazing-bar sashes with moulded architraves light the rooms; those on the ground floor have triple keystones. A central one-storey canted bay with a moulded cornice and balustraded parapet (with panelled dies) projects from the south elevation, featuring glazing-bar sashes to left and right and a central pair of French casements with an overlight.

The left-hand return (entrance) front displays two-two bays with a break to the left. The entrance itself is set within a three-bay ashlar Tuscan porch, with the centre bay wider than the flanking bays. The porch features a moulded cornice to the soffit, a full entablature, and a balustrade with plain dies. The entrance door has six raised and fielded panels, a moulded architrave, a rectangular overlight, and flanking sidelights.

The right-hand return front comprises four bays and features a small-paned half-glazed door to the right with a rectangular overlight. This is accompanied by a plain stone doorcase with a triple keystone, an entablature, and scrolled brackets supporting a triangular pediment.

The rear elevation to the north-west has two bays.

The service wing has a chamfered plinth, a first-floor cill band, and eaves bands with bracketed eaves. Its chimney stacks are of ashlar with paired ridges and two integral end stacks to the rear, each consisting of one and three square shafts with moulded cornices. The west front displays two-two-two bays with a central triangular-pedimented break. Glazing-bar sashes with stone cills and lintels (keyed at ground-floor level) provide light. The north front extends six bays, with blind first-floor windows in the outer bays. A six-panelled door with a flat hood on scrolled brackets and narrow sidelights occupies the centre, with six-panelled doors to the far left and right, each with rectangular overlights. A bellcote is positioned in front of the left-hand first-floor window. The east front steps back to the right in two-two-two bays; a six-panelled door with a rectangular overlight opens in the second bay from the right.

The interior, which has been partly inspected, is mostly of 19th-century date. The entrance hall features raised and fielded panelling with panelled pilasters, a frieze, and a moulded cornice with a coved ceiling. A bolection-moulded stone fireplace is set within the hall. Panelled doors with moulded architraves, scrolled acanthus friezes, and broken triangular pediments open from it. Three arches lead to the staircase hall, which is top-lit and contains a 20th-century three-flight square-well staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade. The library retains raised and fielded panelling and a moulded dentil cornice, together with a marble fireplace in a late 18th-century style. Six-panelled doors with architraves, scrolled friezes, and triangular pediments open from the library, with two arches giving onto the entrance hall. The drawing room features a well-carved marble fireplace with Ionic pilasters and pedimented doorcases, with pairs of niches flanking the doorways. A ground-floor rear room contains a marble fireplace in a late 18th-century style.

The summerhouse dates to around 1846. It is built of squared and coursed limestone with ashlar dressings and is roofed with slate on a hipped plan. It has an elongated octagonal form. A chamfered plinth runs around the base, and a louvred gabled dormer rises to the north. A three-bay Tuscan portico on the south elevation (with the centre bay wider) features a full entablature. Round-arched sashes with plain flush stone architraves light the short sides and rear. A round-arched doorway to the north-west contains a half-glazed door. A short dressed stone wall with a chamfered plinth, coping, and a round-arched gateway links the summerhouse to the rear wing of the house.

The house stands within a small park formed by the damming of the River Glyme, possibly landscaped by Capability Brown. The Church of Saint Mary stands immediately by the house, but the remainder of the village was relocated to the south-east when the park was created in the early to mid-17th century.