Stockton House

Stockton House is a country house built in the 1580s for John Topp. It was altered in 1802 by Jeffry Wyattville, and restored and altered by Benjamin and B.J. Ferrey between 1877 and 1882.

The exterior is constructed of banded limestone ashlar and flint, with tiled gabled roofs featuring coped verges and stone stacks. The house is two storeys with an attic storey. The north-west front has five windows. A three-storey porch projects to the right of centre, with a round-arched opening and Tuscan order with urns to the ground floor, a four-light mullioned and transomed window to the first floor, and a three-light mullioned casement to the attic, with strapwork cresting and obelisk pinnacles. Either side of the porch are three-light and four-light mullioned and transomed casements on the ground and first floors, with lintel string courses. Two attic gables to left and right contain three-light mullioned casements with hoodmoulds.

The right return has a central Tuscan porch, possibly early 19th century, with double half-glazed inner doors, flanked by four-light mullioned and transomed casements on the ground floor and three casements on the first floor. Three attic gables contain three-light mullioned casements with hoodmoulds.

The rear elevation has four four-light mullioned and transomed casements to the ground and first floors, with four attic gables containing three-light mullioned casements. All mullioned and transomed windows feature ovolo moulds; attic windows are hollow-moulded.

Lead rainwater goods dated 1879 are evident on the property. A two-storey 1870s rear service and nursery wing is constructed of banded masonry matching the main house, with mullioned casements and a parapet featuring strapwork panels. A tower on the north side has strapwork cresting and finials.

The left return of the main house, overlooking the service court, has five-light and four-light mullioned and transomed windows on the ground and first floors, a ledged door, and two attic gables with three-light ovolo or hollow-mullioned casements.

Interior

The house retains exceptional late 16th-century plaster ceilings, carved fireplaces and panelling. The entrance hall on the south-west side was remodelled by Jeffry Wyattville in 1802. The stairs rise in two arms, cross a bridge hall, and divide again into two, with cast-iron balusters and wreathed moulded handrails. Reeded door architraves with paterae are present. The outer hall on the north-west side was altered after 1905 and now contains a reset French stone fireplace and reset Tudor-arched oak doorways.

The dining room in the west corner has a Tudor-arched stone fireplace. The White Drawing Room in the south corner has a plaster ceiling with curvilinear thin ribs, a strapwork frieze with initials I.M. and wainscot panelling with one niche. A fine stone fireplace with columns features a square surround, strapwork friezes and an overmantel with heraldic arms.

On the first floor, the music room over the main entrance has a rich plaster ceiling with flat ribs and fruit, animals and flowers. It contains wainscot panelling with Corinthian pilasters and a scrolled frieze, and a stone fireplace with coupled columns and a richly-carved overmantel. A reset doorway with ornate carving is at the south end.

The south bedroom has a ribbed ceiling with floral motifs, wainscot panelling and an Ionic fireplace. The sitting room on the east side has a good plaster ceiling with pendant and panelling, with an unusual fireplace featuring caryatids, strapwork and an overmantel with a cartouche depicting Daniel Chapter 3, Verse 25 and two figures.

A bedroom in the east corner has a ribbed plaster ceiling, a Tudor-arched fireplace and a carved wooden overmantel. It has full panelling with a guilloche frieze and a door with cock's head hinges. A large bedroom on the north side has a curvilinear-ribbed plaster ceiling with initials E.R. and royal arms. It features a Tuscan stone fireplace with an overmantel displaying a strapwork cartouche of the arms of James I and caryatids.

The north-west bedroom has an early 19th-century marble and pine fireplace with an egg and dart surround and six-panelled doors. The 1870s nursery wing has six-panelled doors and tiled and cast-iron fireplaces.

A 17th-century chapel range is attached to the left of the entrance front, constructed in chequered flint and stone. It has three two-light mullioned windows with arched lights and one two-light ovolo-mullioned casement. A two-storey bay to the right features a semi-circular gable. The rear, facing the stable court, has three mullioned casements with arched lights and an oval gable end window. The interior was not inspected.

Stockton House is a fine example of a Wiltshire Elizabethan house with particularly good interiors.