Gatcombe Park

Gatcombe Park is a large country house built between 1771 and 1774 by Francis Franklin of Chalford for Edward Sheppard, with significant remodelling and additions around 1820 by George Basevi for David Ricardo M.P. The house is constructed of ashlar limestone, with coursed dressed limestone to the rear, ashlar chimneys, and a stone slate roof. It is a two-storey house with an attic, built on a double pile plan, and includes flanking single-storey wings, the west wing linked by a curved conservatory to a summer house.

The front facade is symmetrical, arranged with a 2:3:2 fenestration pattern. The outer parts of the facade have 12-pane ground floor sash windows and 9-pane windows above, all in plain surrounds. A central, pedimented section projects forward, featuring a tetrastyle portico with glazed doors and flanked by narrow 8-pane sashes. Open balustrade panels line the sides of the portico and the parapet above, with stone steps flanked by urns displaying gadrooned spiral-fluting. An upper floor round arched sash window is centrally placed, flanked by narrow 6-pane sashes, and the central pediment tympanum has a plain block projection. The house features plain upper floor bands, a moulded cornice, and a parapet with open balustrade panels. The hipped roof incorporates three flat-roofed dormers and ridge-mounted chimneys with moulded caps, with larger chimneys on the return sections of the roof. Flanking bow-fronted wings have three glazed doorways each, with moulded cornices and parapets featuring open balustrade panels. A long, curved conservatory adjoins the west wing, and the summer house has two 12-pane sashes in formerly open round arches, a moulded cornice, a parapet with a central, Jacobean-style shaped gable containing an octagonal clock-face, and a lead cupola incorporating a small bellcote. The rear elevation displays a 7-window sash fenestration pattern, generally with 12-pane sashes on the ground floor and 9-pane sashes above, with a central round arched stair sash.

The interior, described from NMR photographs, includes a central stair hall with a screen of two Doric columns in antis and dentil-enriched cornices. The open-well cantilevered staircase incorporates shaped undersides of treads, stick balusters, and wreathed handrail terminals. Various fine early 19th-century fireplaces are present, and the library in the east wing features bookcases designed by Basevi. Originally, it was thought that Basevi's work comprised primarily internal modifications, additional wings and the summer house; however, it is now considered more likely that a thorough rebuilding occurred, leaving only limited remnants of Edward Sheppard's original house. Contemporary stables from around 1820 are located to the east, and a pyramid monument is situated within the landscaped grounds to the south.