Gifford Hall

Gifford Hall is a detached house dating to circa 1700. It is constructed of limestone ashlar with a hipped roof covered in stone slates, featuring stone stacks. The house is two storeys and an attic, with a five-window front. The basement has two recessed two-light cyma mullioned casements. The central entrance features eight-panelled double doors leading up semi-circular stone steps, set within a bolection-moulded architrave with a carved segmental pediment supported by brackets; two twelve-pane sashes flank the entrance, also set within bolection-moulded architraves with dripstones, retaining thick glazing bars. The first floor has five twelve-pane sashes. A modillioned cornice incorporates acanthus leaf ornament, and a pediment above the centre has a lozenge. Two attic hipped dormers each have a two-light casement. On the right return, a ribbed door has a dripstone and bull’s eye above, with a two-light cyma mullioned casement to the right and a twelve-pane sash to the left. The first-floor window to the left also features a sash, while a mezzanine and the first floor to the right incorporate a two-light glazed door and a two-light mullioned casement to ground and first floor levels. A rear wing to the left displays mullioned casements, and a large twelve-pane sash in a bolection-moulded architrave illuminates the central stair turret. The house is linked to the rear by a mid-20th century addition, which incorporates a 17th-century cottage with 20th-century mullioned casements. Inside, the house retains good original early 18th century fittings. The rear staircase has two turned balusters per tread, a wide moulded handrail, and a dado with fielded panelling; a plaster ceiling above features rich floral and fruit decoration. The room to the left of the entrance is fully panelled, with a blocked corner fireplace and window shutters. The room to the right has a bolection-moulded stone fireplace surround with a cornice. The dining room also features a bolection-moulded fireplace and fielded panelling. First-floor bedrooms retain fielded panelling, bolection-moulded fireplaces, and doors with two fielded panels; ground-floor doors have eight moulded panels. A winding staircase leads to the attic. The former cottage at the rear, now used for services, has chamfered beam and a blocked open fireplace with a timber lintel. Gifford Hall represents a good, little-altered example of an early 18th century small classical house, built for the Harding family.