Bradley House

Bradley House is a country house, dating primarily from the early 18th century, with alterations made in the 1820s for the Seymours, Dukes of Somerset. Part of the original house was demolished at that time. It represents the west wing of a larger house that once formed three sides of a south-facing courtyard, with a later parallel range and service wing added in the 1820s. The main fabric is rendered limestone, topped by a tiled hipped roof, and features brick stacks with moulded cappings. The house is two storeys and has an attic.

The front elevation has an 8-window facade. A 19th-century porch, designed in a 17th-century style, features cross windows, a semi-circular doorway topped by an open pediment bearing the Seymour arms, and three 24-pane sash windows to either side, along with a blind bay to the left. All are set within moulded architraves with pediments displaying carved animals or busts. The first floor has eight 19th-century twelve-pane sash windows with moulded architraves and cornices. A modillioned cornice sits above a balustraded parapet, and there are six pedimented attic dormers with 12-pane sashes. The left return has 19th-century French windows to the right, flanked by shell-headed niches containing statues of Autumn and Winter, a two-storey canted bay with 12-pane sashes and French windows to the left, and two pedimented dormers to the attic. The rear early 19th-century range has 12-pane sashes and a large, later 19th-century five-light mullioned and transomed window providing light to the stairs. Four pedimented dormers match those on the front.

Service and estate offices are incorporated, with a former servants' hall projecting from the left wing. It has 12-pane sashes to the garden front and two-light mullioned casements to the rear courtyard. A 20th-century two-storey extension is attached to the right return of the main range; it is not of special interest. The right gable end of the 19th-century range has two-light mullioned casements.

Inside, the entrance hall contains a late 19th-century open well staircase in a 17th-century style, characterized by turned balusters and a closed string. The joinery includes good eight-panelled doors, six-panelled doors in moulded architraves, and the 18th-century range features reception rooms with late 18th-century fireplaces and window shutters. The house’s earlier form was once depicted in Vitruvius Britannicus Volume II; it was significantly reduced in size in 1821, and remains occupied by the same family. The house sits within established parkland.