Ampney Park

Country house dating from the late 16th century, enlarged with a substantial extension to the north in the 18th century and further additions in the 19th century. The house is constructed of coursed and dressed stone on a plinth. The main section has a stone slate roof with large stone ridge stacks featuring grouped diagonally set square ashlar flues with moulded cornices, and a large lateral front external stack. The verges are coped with finials. The northern wing has a slate roof with parapet wall and plain ashlar ridge stacks with straight set grouped flues.

The original building forms a tall block running north-south of 2 storeys with an attic storey. This is accompanied by a double 2-storey range to the north, a single 2-storey range to the east, and single storey extensions of 19th-century date to the north and east.

The west front displays 2 large gables. The right-hand gable contains an external stack. The left-hand gable features a 4-light stone mullion and transom window with a king mullion and dripmould running across the full width of the gable. The first floor has two 2-light stone mullion and transom windows to the left, with a blind single light and square hoodmould between them, and a 4-light window to the right with a king mullion. String courses mark the division between floors. A large 19th-century gabled porch stands at the base of the west front, with a blocking course above the cornice, angle buttresses, and a large 4-centred arched doorway containing double half-glazed doors and a 4-centred glazed fanlight. To the right of the porch is a long 4-light stone mullion and transom window with a king mullion and 2 transoms with leaded lights, beneath which is a 3-light stone mullion window with a round relieving arch, at cellar level. The south end features a 2-light stone mullion and transom window in the gable above a 3-light window, with a 19th-century canted bay added on the ground floor. Three gables project from the rear of the main range, two of which contain external stacks.

The left-hand wing to the north displays 5 windows on both floors: four 2-light wood mullion and transoms and a single light to the far right, with string courses between the floors. The left-hand bay projects slightly and carries a shallow gable. Behind this range, the rear elevations contain sash windows, mostly 16-pane on the first floor and 24-pane on the ground floor. The wing immediately to the east of the main block follows the same style as the northern wing, with two ground floor windows lengthened. Within the internal angle formed by these ranges stands a 19th-century single storey billiard room with a slate roof and a large 6-light stone mullion and transom window featuring 2 king mullions and 2 transoms, with stained glass windows depicting the arms of the Cripps family, owners of the house from the 19th century until the late 20th century. An additional tall single-storey service wing of 19th-century date projects to the east, containing stone mullion windows. Adjoining to the east of this wing is a stone archway with a depressed round arch, a dropped keystone, imposts, reverse coffered voussoirs and quoins. The archway is decorated with a frieze and dentil cornice, surmounted by a finial with palmette-type design.

A large ground floor room on the south-west corner retains all original internal shutters in the 19th-century bay. This room is a complete Jacobean survival, with oak panelled walls featuring strapwork pilasters, an elaborate plaster ceiling with pendant bosses, and a very large carved stone fireplace and overmantel decorated with figures and the arms of Pleydell, the original owners of the house until 1724.