Beaston, Including Forecourt Containing Wall And Gate Piers To North-North-East

Beaston is a small manor house built around 1740–1750 and inhabited for 250 years by the Rowe family, who also rebuilt the larger Kingston House in Staverton parish in 1744. The house is reputed to have been built by the younger brother. It was modified internally, probably in the later 18th century, and the service wing was remodelled in the 19th century.

The principal block is constructed of small ashlar blocks with slate hanging to the rear on the first floor. The service wing is of rubble, with the lower end rendered. Both have hipped slate roofs. The principal block has a coved cornice. Rendered brick gable end stacks serve the principal block, while the service wing has a large projecting lateral brick stack at the rear. The cottage at the lower end has a large rubble axial stack and a rendered rubble lateral stack at the rear.

The building represents an interesting provincial adaptation of the Classical 18th-century country house plan. Despite its grand exterior, the modest size of the interior is striking. The two blocks are probably of the same basic build, although the service range to the left may be a remodelling of an earlier house that was downgraded. The right-hand block, housing the principal accommodation, has been less altered. It is single depth with a central entrance hall containing a staircase at the rear. The principal room is to the right. To the left, a passage runs along the front of this block leading to the service wing. Behind it is a smaller reception room; both rooms have end stacks. The service wing projects at right angles at the left end and consists of two rooms, the larger probably the original kitchen. Beyond it is what appears to be a separate cottage, which might possibly be an earlier building or alternatively have provided an annexe to the main house.

The building is two storeys with an attic in the principal block. The front elevation is an imposing symmetrical composition of five windows, with late 18th-century 12-pane sash windows in original openings and a central doorway. The door is probably original, with eight fielded panels, a moulded wooden architrave, and simple stone pilasters either side. A stone doorhood is supported on stone brackets. A stringcourse runs above the ground and first floor windows. All windows have flat stone arches. The rear also presents a symmetrical five-window façade of contemporary 12-pane sashes with a tall central 21-pane stair window at first floor. A stringcourse runs above the first floor windows. Two 20th-century gabled dormer windows replace original ones.

The service wing projects from the left-hand end of the front elevation. It has an asymmetrical two-window front of mid-19th-century 12- and 16-pane sashes with flat stone arches above. A 20th-century plank door is to the left. At the rear of the wing is an almost regular three-window façade of similar windows, all with brick dressings. A large projecting lateral stack stands to the right of centre with a 20th-century porch to its right. Beyond that is a projecting slate-hung wing to the attached cottage. The cottage has a regular two-window front of 19th- and 20th-century casements; the right-hand ground floor window is an early 19th-century sash with two lights each of 12 panes.

The interior of the principal block preserves the original room layout with a mixture of original and later features. The principal room has an original moulded cornice and a 19th-century pine chimneypiece. Late 18th-century raised and fielded panel shutters survive to the rear window. The room to the left of the hall retains its original moulded cornice and an original six-fielded panel door. It contains a late 18th-century Adam style chimneypiece with Corinthian pilasters. To either side of the fireplace is a glass-fronted mahogany cabinet with Chippendale style glazing bars, probably contemporary with the chimneypiece. Contemporary raised and fielded panel shutters appear in both principal rooms. The passage at the front of this room has archways at either end with dropped keystones and flat pilasters to either side.

The staircase is of good quality with an original open string design. It has a heavy moulded handrail ramped to newels with a curtail step, column newels, and two turned balusters to each step with carved brackets.

The first floor room layout is identical to the ground floor. The corridor at the front has one identical archway. The principal bedroom has a late 18th-century Adam style chimneypiece and an original three-fielded panel door. Similar panelled surrounds to rear windows as in the ground floor rooms. The other principal bedroom contains a Victorian fireplace with an arched iron grate in a panelled surround to one window. Attic rooms also originally had fireplaces.

The cottage at the end of the service wing has back-to-back fireplaces with a plain timber lintel on one side and a rough voussoir arch on the other.

The house is an interesting and well-preserved example of how a provincial gentry family adapted the design of the Classical 18th-century country house to their own means and purposes. Despite an imposing façade, the principal block has a surprisingly modest interior. Rather than incorporating the service rooms into the main block, they are housed in a wing at one side, which unbalances the symmetry of the main house. These idiosyncrasies, however, give a vernacular character to a house with grander pretensions.

The property includes a forecourt containing a wall and gate piers to the north-north-east.