Mirehouse

Mirehouse is a house that likely dates from the late 17th century, with alterations made in the 18th century for the Gregg family. The wings were added in 1790 for Thomas Story, with rear extensions completed in 1830 by Joseph Cantwell for John Spedding, followed by further extensions in 1851 and 1883.

The building features painted-roughcast walls with angle pilasters and an eaves cornice resting on a chamfered plinth, along with quoined extensions. It has a graduated greenslate roof and chimney stacks made of ashlar and yellow brick. The house is two storeys high and consists of seven bays, with two single-bay wings on either side. The right side has a lower drawing-room extension, while the left side features a two-storey, three-bay servants' wing. The entrance is marked by panelled and glazed double doors set within a tetrastyle Ionic porch. The sash windows, which have glazing bars, are framed by stone architraves. The wings include two-storey canted bays topped with hipped roofs, each featuring four-light sash windows, with the central lights having rounded heads. The right extension has sash windows with glazing bars set in eared architraves, while the servants' wing displays mixed fenestration, mostly with glazing bars in stone surrounds. The rear of the house includes a panelled door, sash windows with glazing bars, and a Venetian staircase window, all within stone surrounds.

Inside, the decor is primarily from the late 18th and 19th centuries, featuring panelled doors throughout, set in panelled reveals, including one leading into the drawing-room extension that is topped with a radial fanlight. Most windows have panelled shutters, and the ground-floor rooms boast moulded plaster ceilings and cornices.

Mirehouse was given by the Earl of Derby to his agent Roger Gregg before 1688 and remained in the Gregg family and their relatives, the Storys, until 1802, when it was inherited by the Speddings of Armathwaite Hall. It is still the home of the Spedding family and is open to the public. The house is particularly notable for its connections to Thomas Carlyle, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and other literary friends of James Spedding (1808-1881), who were frequent visitors.