Rock House And Adjacent Range Of Outbuildings To Rear

HALBERTON ROCK BRIDGE ST 01 SW 2/205 - Rock House and adjacent range of 5.4.66 outbuildings to rear GV II* Substantial country house. Apparently built and designed in circa 1814 by the engineer of the Grand Western Canal, John Rennie. Coursed rubble limestone and sandstone, with ashlar quoins, under hipped slate and pantiled roofs. Central staircase double depth plan with a rear service wing that connects with an extensive range of outbuildings. Axial stacks. 2½-storeys, the central bay of 3 storeys. Front: symmetrical, 2:1:2 bays; tall, narrow projecting central entrance bay, ashlar quoining, the cornice carried up and around the top and surmounted by a recessed parapet - a decidedly quirky mannerism; semi-circular second floor window with hornelss sash, 9-panes above, 6 below; 12-pane hornless sash window to first floor; the moulded stringcourse forms the cornice of the porch entablature with a frieze of triglyphs, 4 large Doric columns, the doorway with panelled reveals, the door, also panelled, with rectangular barred fanlight. Bays to either side with 16- pane hornless sash windows to first and second floors, with 6-pane attic windows; flanking bays slightly recessed with 12-pane sash windows to first and second floor; all first and second floor windows under pronounced stone window arches. Stone coursing in alternative bands of sandstone and limestone. Left-hand side elevation, 3-window range, 16-pane hornless sash windows with a central door under a C19 glazed porch. To the left of this front is a carriage entry under round headed arch with keystone, large pediment, and pilaster quoins. The long range of outbuildings, all 2-storeyed, that extends from this point but at a different alignment, presents a forbidding exterior to the road, a tall wall, completely without any openings; inner elevation of this range with 2 carriage entrances, string course and 3 openings above, all with heavy stone jambs and lintels; stable block set at right angles to this range, with carriageway arch, keystone and block capitals, the gable wall with a round-headed openings; heavy coping and quoins. Rainwater from roofs of the house and outbuildings collects in a stone gutter which is carried along the entire range, forming the base of the stable gable wall and issues into a large storage tank at the bottom end of the building. Interior: plain carpentry details; labyrinthine cellars cut into bedrock.

Listing NGR: ST0168913118