The Library

This is a former library, originally belonging to Stevenstone House, now in a ruined state. It dates to the late 17th and early 18th centuries and was carefully renovated in 1980 by the Landmark Trust. It is suggested that William Talman may have been involved in its design. The front elevation is of Flemish bond red brick with limestone ashlar detailing, while the rest of the building is constructed from local stone rubble, with a white-washed west end and plastered north and east sides. It features a stone rubble stack and a brick chimneyshaft with moulded limestone coping, all under a slate roof.

The building is set into the garden terraces and has a rectangular plan, facing south-south-west. A rear lateral stack provides additional space. The library is a tall room with a basement and an open arcade front.

The symmetrical front has three tall, round-headed sash windows with glazing bars set in limestone architraves, each detailed with bolection moulding, a keystone, and sill consoles carved as acanthus leaves. The basement is recessed behind a three-bay arcade of round-headed brick arches, each topped with a large limestone keystone carved as a human-head mask surmounted by an heraldic cartouche, with the prominent Rolle arms in the centre. Limestone ashlar quoins mark the ends of the building, and the bays are flanked by four giant pilaster orders with fluted pilasters on pedestals, Ionic capitals, and an ornate eaves cornice including a frieze, moulded egg-and-dart and modillions carved as acanthus leaves. The roof is hipped at each end with sprocketted eaves. The rear elevation is simpler, featuring three windows of a similar design, without architraves, and a fanlight above the terrace that illuminates the basement.

A previous description noted a double curved flight of steps with wrought iron railings leading to a first-floor balcony; this has been replaced with timber stairs and a balcony fenced with a balustrade of 18th-century turned timber balusters.

Inside, the library retains an original moulded plaster rib design and some original joinery. A 18th-century chimney-piece, originally from the old mansion, has been relocated to the library, although it may have been in situ originally. The building forms a pleasing group with other subsidiary buildings at Stevenstone House, several of which are listed.