Rowde Hall

Rowde Hall is an early 18th-century house, possibly incorporating earlier fabric, situated on Rowde High Street, Rowde. The front of the house is constructed of ashlar, with red brick sides and a slate roof. It is arranged over three storeys and originally had a three-window front, with the left bay projecting. A raised plinth and moulded string courses are visible, topped by a cornice featuring egg-and-dart moulding and a balustrade. The angles of the projecting bay and the south-west angle of the main range are emphasised by a superimposed order of rusticated ground floor piers, first floor Roman Doric pilasters, and second floor pilasters with Baroque capitals, inspired by those at No. 11 Church Street, Lacock, which are believed to have originated from the demolished Bowden Park (circa 1685). Mouldings project over the angle piers. Running along the underside of the cornice is a series of deeply-carved square plaques, depicting a radiating foliage motif, crossed plant sprays, or a dog’s head crest; two are present on the left bay, one returns to the side, and three are on the right two bays. The left bay has a three-storey canted bay with mouldings running around it, and sash windows in architraves. The right side has a two-window range of similar sashes. An enclosed, projecting ashlar porch with angle pilasters, a cornice and a parapet is located in the angle, with a door set within an architrave and a flanking round-headed sash window. The north end wall is red brick with ashlar dressings and has a two-window range of windows, each with gauged brick heads and keystones; the ground floor is obscured by a later 19th or 20th-century projection. The south end of the house, facing the road, is red brick with ashlar rusticated quoins, with mouldings and a balustrade running around it. A single window is present; the second-floor window is blank and is set within an architrave, with a semi-circular indent in the wall below. One blank window is on the first floor, with an architrave and a modillion cornice which breaks the string course. The ground floor has a 12-pane sash window in an architrave with a segmental pediment, also breaking the string course. The east return is ashlar with mouldings running around it and narrow sashes to the upper floors. The mouldings continue around a large, projecting ashlar chimney breast, possibly dating from an earlier building. Carved plaques are incorporated into the chimney breast, as well as the short ashlar stack. To the right is an early 19th-century red brick two-storey addition with a slate roof, hipped towards the right. It has a front ground floor Venetian window with a four-over-twelve-pane arrangement, and a large 12-pane sash above, both with gauged brick heads. The rear range of the house is not of special architectural or historical interest.