Winson Manor

Winson Manor is a country house dating from approximately 1740, built for Richard Howse, the Surgeon-General to the Army, with internal alterations around 1800. The house is constructed of ashlar limestone, with coursed rubble to the sides and rear, rendered chimneys and a stone slate roof. It is designed in a classical style, with a compact rectangular plan and a central stair hall.

The east front is a fine facade, displaying a symmetrical fenestration pattern of 1:3:1, with a central projection breaking forward and topped by a pediment containing a keyed oeil de boeuf (circular window) in the tympanum. The windows are sash windows; those on the ground and middle floors have 12 panes and Gibbs surrounds, while the middle floor features moulded architraves. The central sash window on the middle floor has a keyed shaped architrave. The upper-floor sashes have 6 panes and moulded architraves, shaped at the centre, all the lower-floor windows featuring bracketed sills. A central doorway is set within a Gibbs surround with a flat cornice, sheltering a six-panel fielded door with Gothic glazing bars above the door. Alternating chamfered quoins, a plain plinth, and floor-level bands are also present, as is a modillion cornice with a plain parapet.

The south side has a two-window fenestration arrangement mirroring that of the front, with plain architraves. The modillion cornice and banding continue from the front elevation. A small doorway to the left of the fenestration is accessed by a flat timber porch hood on brackets and a flight of stone steps, leading to a six-panel door. A recent slate inscription above the doorway reads: ‘FORTVNATVS ET ILLE DEOS QVI NOVIT AGRESTIS / PANAQVE SILVANVMQVE SENEM NYMPHASQVE SORORES’. The double-hipped roof is visible from this side.

The north side features banding but lacks the parapet cornice. The fenestration is irregularly placed, including an 18-pane upper floor sash and a recessed chamfered mullioned casement to the ground floor, with a timber plaque reading 'DAIRY' above it.

The rear elevation is banded with scattered fenestration, including sashes and two-light casements. One upper-floor window features a plaque reading 'CHEESE ROOM' beneath it. A 19th-century single-storey service wing incorporates a glazed lantern, while a larger single-storey wing, possibly of earlier origin, was later altered to form a kitchen.

A four-bay arcade with tapering rubble piers and knee braces to timber lintels runs parallel to the north side, connecting to the service wing and facing south.

The interior features a small, open-well staircase hall with two turned balusters per tread, bracketed strings, swept handrails and columnar newels. The dado is matching but relatively plain. Many rooms are adorned with bold modillion cornices, and a mixture of mid-18th century and Regency fireplaces are present. Chinese-style balustrading is found on the back stair.

The house is a well-proportioned classical example, and it is suggested that James Gibbs may have been involved in its design, given that the client, Richard Howse, knew Gibbs through his association with St Bartholomew's Hospital.