Jetwells

Jetwells is a large, single-storey house built around 1815 for Charles Carpenter. It is constructed of stuccoed stone rubble with a bitumen-coated rag slate roof, hipped ends, and deep overhanging eaves. Rendered stacks are also present.

The house has a double-depth plan, with the main entrance located to the right of centre. A wide cross passage leads to a corridor running at right angles, dividing a pair of large reception rooms on the front left from bedrooms on the rear left. Service rooms are situated on the right-hand side of the house and within a wing set back on the right. The building includes a cellar, and an attic on the right may be a later addition.

The front elevation is asymmetrical, with the main house set forward on the left and an entrance in the angle where the service range is set back on the right. A Doric porch with a flat entablature provides access to a wide 19th-century door. The front has an asymmetrical five-window arrangement; a small triangular window is on the far left, followed by an early 19th-century 8-over-12 pane sash window, a large segmented bay with two tall early 19th-century 8-over-12 pane sashes, and a 20th-century window to the right of the bay. The left-hand garden front is almost symmetrical, featuring a central bay lit by a tall early 19th-century sash window with a semi-circular head and intersecting glazing bars, an 8-over-12 pane sash to the left, and a 20th-century remodelled French window to the right.

The interior remains largely complete, though some partitions were altered in the later 19th century. A wide entrance passage features a three-bay groin vaulted roof and retains its doors and doorcases, with the far right door having a fanlight. A blocked arch leads to the rear. A reception room on the left has a moulded early 19th-century cornice and a reproduction bolection moulded chimney-piece. The room on the far left has an ornate early 19th-century plaster cornice and a 20th-century fireplace.

The house was bequeathed by Charles Carpenter to his nephew, Mr Cresswell, and was later sold to Admiral Dym. Jetwells is considered a most unusual and particularly early example of a single-storey house with high-quality detailing.