Charlton House The Downs School

Charlton House, now known as The Downs School, is a small country house that dates back to probably the late medieval period. It underwent alterations in the early to mid 17th century and was extended around 1877 to 1884. The building is rendered and features a slate roof behind a coped parapet, with ashlar stacks. It has an irregular U-shaped plan and consists of three storeys.

The central section of the house has three windows on the ground floor and five on the first floor. To the right, there are two five-light cross windows in the Hall, which have ovolo moulded king mullions and surrounds. The other windows are two- and three-light casements, all set under dripmoulds. There is a two-storey gabled porch on the left, featuring a 19th-century door with a moulded surround.

Projecting wings flank the central section, each topped with curvilinear gables that have ball finials. The right wing has a two-storey square bay window with five lights, while the left wing features a slightly projecting three-storey bay with a five-light cross window on the ground floor and a three-light window on the first floor, all from the 19th century with ovolo moulded mullions and surrounds. A drainpipe hopper on the right wing is dated 1883. There is also a further two-bay extension to the west, which includes a lateral stack and three- and two-light cross windows with ovolo moulded mullions and casements.

Inside, most features are from the 19th century, but there is a screens passage with the hall to the left. The hall has an early 17th-century fireplace made of stone, with a moulded and gadrooned surround, clustered colonnettes on each side with caryatid termini, an enriched frieze, and a moulded cornice. The large overmantel displays draped figures of kings and women, representing Charity and Justice, along with full armorial bearings. Additionally, one internal window on the east side is said to contain an early 16th-century two-light window with arched lights.