Richmond House

Richmond House is a former house dating to around 1701-1703. It is constructed of brick, which has been rendered, with limestone dressings and brick chimney stacks. The roof is covered in pantiles, with slate tiles on the single-storey west addition and the two-storey rear (north) addition. The windows are a mix of early 18th-century cross windows to the north elevation, featuring ovolo moulded timber frames and some leaded lights, and 18th-century sash windows, some of which have been repaired and renewed in the 20th century.

Originally, the house had a single-depth plan, with a principal room on either side of a central entrance hall, and the staircase at the rear. A single-storey addition extends from the west elevation, and an 18th-century two-storey service wing adjoins the rear. The interior plan has been altered with the addition of partition walls and doorways, especially on the upper floors. The north-east corner of the building has been stripped out, with a metal fire-escape staircase inserted (which is not of particular architectural interest).

The main (south) elevation is three stories high, with gable end stacks and a moulded cornice to the raised parapet. The symmetrical five-bay façade is arranged as 2:1:2, with sash windows and a central recessed doorway featuring a timber architrave and a six-panel door, with glazed upper panels. A single-storey, hipped-roof addition is positioned to the left. The north elevation retains part of its hood mould to ground and first-floor levels and contains three early 18th-century cross windows. A late 18th-century addition extends to the north, with a blocked doorway on its right side. A 19th-century French window has been inserted into the east elevation, to the right of a gable end stack, and three of the four windows either side of the stack have been blocked.

The central entrance hall contains an oak open-well staircase with a closed string, square newel posts with moulded caps and pyramid pendants, barley twist balusters, and a heavily moulded handrail. The principal reception rooms on either side of the entrance hall have timber moulded cornices and panelled window shutters. The west room features raised and fielded wall panelling on its south and west walls, with a chair rail dividing the lower and upper panels. Both reception rooms have mid-19th-century fireplaces; the east room retains its original grate. A small room to the north of the west room has a late 18th-century corner fireplace with a moulded stone surround. Throughout the interior, other notable features include cornices, panelled window shutters secured by a combination of swivel fasteners, butterfly hinges and H-hinges, 18th and 19th-century panelled doors (though many are 20th-century fire doors), moulded skirting boards, some fitted cupboards, and 19th-century fireplaces.