Abbotswood And Gate Piers To Stable Yard

This is a country house, largely dating to 1862, with subsequent extensions and alterations by Edwin Lutyens for Mark Fenwick. The original structure is of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, creating a strong contrast in the Lutyens additions, which use rough-faced rubble. The roof is Cotswold stone, with coped verges and parapets to the east-west wing, a hipped end to the north wing, and large rectangular ridged chimneys.

The house is built in the Cotswold style, featuring mullioned and transom windows. The windows in the 1867 section have drips and rounded strings, while the Lutyens additions use flat flush mullions, transoms, and segmental labels. A string course runs over the ground floor and at first-floor sill level in the 1867 section. The main block runs east-west and includes two gables with ball finials, with irregular fenestration; ground-floor windows were altered by Lutyens, now featuring metal casements. The north wing is at a right angle to the main block, with eaves mirroring the first floor transom windows. It includes two Cotswold dormer gables with kneelers. A doorway, arched in shape, is situated to the right of centre, above which is a two-light transom window. Lutyens added a large two-bay block with tall diagonal chimneys to the left.

A substantial Lutyens addition extends west of the main block, featuring a basement and a projecting gable with roofs that sweep almost to the ground. The main entrance has a central rusticated Ionic doorcase with an open segmental pediment containing initials and a date; a mounting block is located to the right. The west return has two tall projecting gables separated by a lower corniced link with a bracketed pediment over the central, altered window. Cornice and parapet blocks flank the gables. Below the central window is a rusticated half-dome niche with a keystone mask, from which water jets sprout into a circular pool. A bullseye window is situated to the left.

The garden front, which faces south, comprises four bays with projecting end gables containing two-storey angled bays, belonging to the 1867 construction. A tablet commemorates a child's narrow escape from a window on the north side. Ashlar gatepiers with ball finials, likely dating to 1867, mark the entrance to the stable yard at the north end of the north wing.