Spring Hill House

Spring Hill House is a large country house dating to approximately 1757, originally built for John Bulkeley-Coventry-Bulkeley. Capability Brown was employed in 1763, likely for landscaping the grounds, although there is a suggestion he may have also contributed to the design of the house itself. In 1830, the house was purchased by General Lygon, who added wings and a porch and re-landscaped the estate to resemble the field of Waterloo. Further remodelling occurred in the late 19th century, executed in a “Wren-naissance” style.

The house is now arranged as a courtyard plan, with a domestic range to the east and a stable range to the west, linked across the north side by a coach house featuring a cupola. The front terrace is a substantial rockery and grotto.

The south front presents a symmetrical two-storey composition set upon a terrace. It is constructed of ashlar with hipped slate roofs, with stone tiles to the rear and courtyard wings. The central five-bay section features a central pedimented break containing a half oval portico, with two-bay set backs to either side and pedimented end bays set slightly back. A band runs above the ground floor. Sash windows have keystones and shutters; glazing bars are present only to the first floor. A tripartite window is centrally located on the first floor, with a bracket cornice above. A Tuscan portico, with a balustraded parapet, half-glazed doors, and sidelights, provides the main entrance. Single-story projecting bays with balustraded parapets, are located at the angles of the rear wings. Side wings have mullion and transom windows, with three lights to the end bays and projecting bays.

The north front is constructed of rubble and features a balanced composition with a central coach house and cupola, and stables to the left and domestic quarters to the right. A three-bay central pavilion is taller than the surrounding structure and includes three large archways leading to the courtyard, flanked by coach houses. A central gabled half-dormer is present, as is a modillion eaves cornice and a hipped roof. The left section of the north front contains wooden mullion windows with leaded glazing, while the right section has glazing bar sash windows. The east (stable) return features wooden mullion windows and retains original loose boxes. The west (domestic) return exhibits half-dormers and evidence of an earlier 18th-century structure, possibly a farmhouse converted into its present use when the main house was built and remodelled again in the late 19th century.