Stoutshill

This is a large, detached house, formerly a school and subsequently converted into dwellings. It was built in the mid to late 18th century and is constructed of ashlar limestone. Stoutshill is an example of the picturesque Gothick mansion style, with a formal, north-facing principal block featuring symmetrical two-storey semi-octagonal bays. A large, projecting semi-octagonal bay houses the staircase at the rear, and the main block is flanked by a rambling service wing to the right. Later 20th-century extensions are not included in the listing.

The front elevation is two storeys high with a 3+3+3 window arrangement, all featuring windows with ogee heads and pilasters with impost blocks. The ground floor central pair of windows has an ogee head above the window, and there’s a central first-floor light between pilasters. A pair of six-panel doors is centrally located under a cusped flat ogee head, adorned with Batty Langley corinthianesque columns, a quatrefoil plan, a coved decorated cornice, and approached by two steps. A long, two-storey wing extends to the right, featuring a centrally set, canted bay that is recessed behind a crenellated corridor connection. The wing has three windows under flat four-centred heads, with sash windows and glazing bars. At the far end, plain pointed windows with sashes and glazing bars painted in blank panels are present, along with a large semi-circular stair turret.

The interior retains some rich Gothick decoration. An octagonal room on the ground floor, to the left, features flat ogee-headed panels, delicate crenellation to the cornice, and pinnacled side panels to the fireplace; a twisted guilloche decoration is incorporated into the dado rail. The central hall boasts a massive stone fireplace and double doors flanked by four grouped Batty Langley columns, accompanied by a coved cornice with intersecting pointed arch decoration. The grand staircase is open-well and features a swept handrail to trefoil-headed balusters in two ranges, with circular newels marking changes in direction. The treads have moulded nosings and decorative strings combining quatrefoil and trefoil motifs. An octagonal roof-light illuminates the staircase. To the right of the main hall is a large saloon with a bay, panelled in a classical manner but with Gothick decorations. Partitions are timber framed and faced with plaster.

Stoutshill represents a major example of the Gothick country house style, notably preserving substantial remains of its original interior decoration, which contributes significantly to its group value.