Crowe Hall

Crowe Hall is a large detached house in its own grounds on Widcombe Hill. The building stands on the site of a house of 1742, but is mainly of around 1780, with an early 19th-century entrance front and internal restructuring following a major fire in 1926.

The house is constructed of limestone ashlar with slate roofs. The plan comprises a compact square main building with double hipped roofs behind parapets, a porte-cochere with giant columns on the north-east side, and a symmetrical long front with a bowed centre on the south-west, facing extensive terraced gardens. A substantial service wing in matching style is attached to the north-west end.

The exterior rises to two storeys over a basement. The entrance features four widely-spaced unfluted Ionic columns supporting a full entablature with blocking, and Doric pilaster responds. These stand well forward as an open portico over a central pair of panelled doors with a transom light in a Roman Doric half-column doorcase. The doors are flanked by plain sashes with architraves and cornices on consoles and pilasters, with sills on deep fluted brackets. The portico is slightly stepped forward from the side wings, with a blind oculus containing four keystones above an arched recess in pilasters. Both are set to a slight projection with a separate blocking course. A slight plinth, mid-entablature to the two side wings, and a lintel with frieze, cornice and blocking course are carried across the full frontage and returned at the ends. A short return to the right contains two twelve-pane sashes above a wide tripartite casement with stone mullions.

The nine-bay garden front has a bold central full-height bow with three twelve-pane sashes, flanked by three on each side at first-floor level, above French casements with plain fanlights, each set on two steps with dividing blockings carrying stone urns. The mid-band and entablature from the front are returned. To the right of the bow is an ashlar stack. At the left-hand end stands a late 19th-century conservatory with stone piers to three bays containing three-light windows, and to the front a wide pair of small-pane glazed doors behind a haunched arch, flanked by large twenty-four-pane casements. The return frontage, in detail matching the garden front, has four twelve-pane windows at each level, and a blind light above the conservatory. First-floor sashes throughout feature louvred shutters.

The service wing, set back to the left and slightly lower than the main range, mirrors the garden front in its detailing, with five twelve-pane windows above two at ground level, a door with transom light and a bracketed hood, and a deep recess over a twelve-pane window above a basement area. The rear of this wing, facing the entry, has twelve- and sixteen-pane sashes, and in a short link to the main range, a twelve-pane window above a door with fanlight and three very narrow sashes, above a basement area enclosed by iron railings. The outer end has three blind lights above three twelve-pane windows.

The interior was not inspected for this listing, but a former list records lavish internal decoration, with a large central hall featuring a cove and domed ceiling supported on Doric column screens on each long side. The grand staircase is of Doddington type, installed after the 1926 fire. Other rooms contain Adamesque detail and fireplaces, some of which have been reset. An ashlar wall with broad fluted pilasters and moulded coping is attached to the frontage at the left-hand end, with a short quadrant and a doorway with pulvinated frieze. At the right-hand end is a short section of stone balustrade stopped to a quadrant, with a short return carrying a horizontal console.

The property takes its name from Brigadier Crowe, its owner around 1770. It was acquired by the Tugwell family around 1805, after which much modification was undertaken; this family relinquished ownership in 1919. The house was very grand and has been carefully restored and embellished. The extensive gardens, set on steep slopes, are registered on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. They contain many balustrades and garden ornaments, mostly of post-1950 date, though the main terrace with pool dates from the late 1930s. An early grotto and carriage house also remain on the property.