Cirencester Park Mansion And Attached Offices

Cirencester Park Mansion and Attached Offices

A house and attached offices dating from around 1714–1718, probably incorporating parts of a late 16th-century house, with alterations and additions made in 1830 by Sir Robert Smirke. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar on the east front and render on the west front, with attached offices of coursed limestone rubble. It is roofed with Welsh slate in a double-pile hipped form, with hipped roofing to the left only on the east front, hipped roofing to the 1830 wing, and Welsh slate roofing to the offices. The building is topped with twelve ashlar stacks with moulded tops positioned at the left and right ends and on the ridges of the main range and 1830 wing, with two similar ridge stacks serving the offices.

The east front is three storeys with a cellar beneath and spans fifteen windows. The first floor has five 19th-century plate glass sashes in beaded reveals to left and right, while five projecting bays to the centre have 19th-century glazing bar casements in similar reveals. The second floor displays five early 19th-century 3/3-pane sashes in beaded reveals with stone cills on each side, with five early 18th-century 3/6-pane sashes in similar reveals to the centre. The ground floor addition by Sir Robert Smirke breaks forward and features five round-headed windows with glazing bars in the upper sashes and plate glass below, set in deep plain reveals to left and right. The centre contains four 2-light casement windows in plain reveals and a central porch with a pair of 4-panel hardwood doors. The central five bays of the ground floor are articulated by three pilaster strips to left and right and at the angles of the porch, a moulded stone plinth, frieze and moulded cornice with eight stone vases positioned over the pilaster strips and at the porch angles. The plinth to left and right has openings into the basement area and simple 19th-century iron railing. A plat band runs over the first floor, and a modillion eaves cornice and pediment surmount the three central bays.

The west front is also three storeys with a cellar and spans fifteen windows. A shallow break forward to the centre of three bays is topped by a segmental pediment, while single-bay pedimented pavilions project at the left and right ends. The 1830 wing is attached to the left. The first floor of the main range has fifteen 19th-century plate glass sashes in plain reveals with moulded stone cills and half-H aprons below. The second floor has fifteen similar sashes. The ground floor features six 19th-century two-light plate glass casements and three similar round-headed casements in a projecting ground floor addition to the centre, with two similar casements in the pavilions to left and right, all set in round-headed rusticated surrounds. Two half-glazed doors to left and right, positioned in the angles formed by the projecting pavilions, have overlights with glazing bars and bracketed timber cornice hoods with flat panels above. A shallow plinth is present, with a band course over the first floor and a moulded stone eaves cornice and parapet.

The 1830 wing to the left is in a similar style, forming a three-storey, two-window range. The first floor has two 19th-century plate glass sashes and the second floor has two similar windows. The ground floor contains two 19th-century two-light timber casements. It features a shallow plinth, band course over the first floor, and moulded stone eaves cornice and parapet.

The attached offices face east onto the estate yard. They are two storeys to the centre and right, and single storey with cellar to the left, forming a nine-window range. A shallow break forward to the centre of three bays is topped by a pediment. Windows to the ground and first floors and cellar are all early 19th-century two-light timber glazing bar casements in plain reveals with flat arch lintels and stone cills. Three doors occupy the ground floor centre, of eight panels, with the right door having two upper panels glazed. The structure has a shallow plinth, pilaster strips flanking the centre, and a pediment with coping.

The interior of the house was partially inspected. A staircase and gallery occupy the hall in late 18th-century style. A carved marble chimneypiece adorns the ground floor front right room. The principal rooms are said to retain little original decoration. The proportions of the rooms suggest 16th-century rather than early 18th-century design, indicating the retention of some fabric from the earlier house.