The Island

This is a circa 1810 house, situated near the River Loman and originally accessed via an entrance lane to a factory. It is a large building in a Regency style, built with mass wall construction and covered by a slate roof. The building plan is L-shaped, with the main entrance positioned at the intersection of the two blocks.

The front elevation has a symmetrical design with a 1:1-window arrangement. The windows are timber casements of an early 19th-century design, characterised by high transoms, slender glazing bars and margin panes. A projecting front wing to the right has a gabled end with deep verges and scalloped bargeboards. A substantial verandah supported by openwork cast-iron columns and Greek key mouldings extends across the end and the left return of this wing. The front door is set within a decorative doorcase with a carved or cast panel featuring flowers. A rib-vaulted plaster bay provides a porch immediately in front of the door, and a glazed upper panel is present in the two-leaf front door. A one-light window is situated to the left of the front door while a two-light window is on the first floor.

The verandah’s cast-iron columns feature moulded capitals, with timber arches between the columns exhibiting pierced spandrels and keyblocks. A cast-iron balustrade with intersecting pointed arch balusters encloses the balcony above. A French window on the ground floor is designed to match the other windows. A similar two-light window above features a timber tented porch supported by pierced brackets. An attic window is located in a gabled timber oriel supported by brackets, finished with ogees and small panes with margin lights.

The right return of the wing has two similar first-floor windows and a six-panel door. The left return of the entrance block has a likely later or reglazed rectangular bay window; this features high-transomed lights but no margin panes, and a matching ground and first-floor window is present. A six-panel door is sheltered by a curved corrugated iron hood on wrought-iron brackets. The interior was not inspected but likely retains features of interest.