Pound House

A country house dated 1781, likely built on an earlier site, with 19th and 20th century additions. The house is constructed of stone rubble, with slate hanging on the two main facades; elsewhere, the walls are rendered. It has a hipped slate roof with seven stacks – three are lateral, three are end stacks, one is an axial stack, and a later rendered shaft is at the rear. The plan form is unusual, roughly H-shaped, with an asymmetrical arrangement of rooms. An off-centre entrance passage leads to a long hall that runs along the rear of the main block and has the staircase to its right. There’s one room to either side of the entrance passage, the largest on the left. Wings project at either end to the front; the right-hand wing originally contained service rooms, while the left-hand wing had two principal rooms and extended slightly to the rear of the main block. A large mid-19th century addition was built at the right-hand end but was partially demolished earlier in the 20th century. A further extension was added at the rear of the left-hand side in 1938.

The house is two storeys with an attic, and has an almost symmetrical three-bay, two-by-five-by-two window front, with the outer bays projecting. The windows are circa late 19th/early 20th century, 2-pane sashes; there are blind windows at the front of the left-hand wing. A pedimented porch to the right of centre has columns at the front and pilasters at the rear, with a medallion cornice. The doorway features stone pilasters and a round-headed arch with a projecting keystone; it likely has an original 6-panelled door with a semi-circular fanlight. An ornamental lead rainwater head dated 1781 with the initials I.L. is located in the angle between the main block and the wings. The left-hand wing has a modillion cornice. The left-hand front displays a symmetrical arrangement of 1:4:1 windows and a central pedimented bay that projects slightly, topped with a Diocletian window. A 1938 extension, arcaded on the ground floor, is at the left-hand end.

Inside, the original staircase survives in the hall, featuring an open string, wreathed handrail, column newel, and column-as-vane balusters. The tread ends are decoratively carved. The room in the front left-hand wing has an ornate cornice and ceiling band, likely from the early 19th century; the chimney piece is in a slightly earlier style and includes a central classical panel, reeded frieze, and floral pendants to the pilasters, reflecting the house's original era. The interior also includes several arches in the corridor and hall, similar to the design of the front doorcase. Principal rooms have panelled shutters, and those in the room to the left of the passage are probably original with fielded panels.