Hawke House

Hawke House is an early 18th-century house, extended in the later 18th century and with 20th-century additions, now used as offices. The house is constructed of brown brick with red brick dressings to the central pavilion, and yellow brick to the ends. It has hipped green slate roofs of a lower pitch over the wings, with end stacks to the rear. The original two-storey centre block has attics and a basement. A rendered plot band runs over the ground floor, extending to the wings, above which is a deep modillioned eaves cornice. The central block has three bays, the middle projecting under a pediment. Dormer windows with 12 panes of glazing bar are located on either side of the pediment, set in moulded surrounds. The first floor has three plate-glass sash windows in architraves, the central one with a shouldered surround. A tripartite plate-glass sash window, with a hood on volute scroll and palmette brackets and sills on corbel blocks, is located either side of the central segmentally pedimented doorcase with pilasters. The door has four panels, the upper ones arched, with a transome light above. Two blocked casement windows with cambered heads are set into the basement storey on either side. A single-bay link, set back to either side of the central pavilion, connects to the end wings. This link has a roundel on the first floor above a narrow 12-pane, glazing-bar sash window. The end wings have brick dentilled eaves and three 20-pane, glazing-bar sashes on the first floor within gauged brick heads. The ground floor of each wing has three tripartite sashes, with sills on corbel blocks and gauged brick arches to blind panels above, rising over the plat band into the first floor. The right-hand return front features a single sash window on the first floor, along with a similar doorcase and door to the centre of the ground floor. The rear elevation has three bays to the centre block, with three dormers in the roof, the central one being pedimented. The interior mostly consists of modern features, but retains an 18th-century staircase. Hawke House was the home of Admiral Lord Hawke from 1771 to 1782.