Lyulph'S Tower

Lyulph's Tower is a house dating to approximately 1795, built for the Duke of Norfolk. It is constructed of stone rubble with ashlar dressings and roughcast rendering, set within a half-hexagonal plan with a rear range and octagonal angle towers.

The central range is two storeys high with four bays. A sill band runs along the first floor, surmounted by a high, coped parapet. The ground floor features round-headed windows in the central bays, with paired sashes incorporating glazing bars and intersecting glazing bars above. The outer bays have two-light, single-chamfered-mullioned windows. The first floor has two round-headed windows under a relieving arch to the central bays, with paired sashes similar to those on the ground floor. The outer bays feature small-paned cross-casements, with one on the fourth bay being a later replacement.

The three-stage towers are partially roughcast and have string courses and embattled parapets. Each tower has a round-headed window on the ground and first floors. The ground floor window of the tower on the right retains a sash, while the others are casements. A small sash window is located on the second floor of the left-hand tower, and the right-hand tower has a round-headed casement.

To the left of the central range is a three-bay section with an embattled parapet and strings, again partially roughcast. Round-headed windows with casements are placed on the first floor. A smaller casement is visible in a blocked round-headed window on the ground floor of the tower to the left, and a round-headed first-floor window is also present. The entrance has a round arch with a blocked fanlight and a studded door. To the right is a roughcast addition to the first bay and a roughcast tower, with an embattled parapet and strings. The second and third bays, and the ground floor of the tower to the left, feature round-headed windows with paired sashes, single glazing bars and horns, and intersecting tracery above. A later extension has incorporated a canted bay on the ground floor. A round-headed entrance doorway has intersecting glazing bars to the fanlight and sashes with single glazing bars above; it is topped with an embattled parapet. A small-paned cross-casement is located on the first floor of the tower.

The rear of the building includes slate-hung lean-to outshuts flanking a five-bay range with a hipped roof, featuring triple sashes on the ground floor and paired sashes on the first floor, single-light windows, and entrances at each end. Numerous stacks are present. An outshut to the right has a return with round-headed windows; a ground-floor window is blocked, while a first-floor window has paired sashes and intersecting bars.

The interiors are relatively plain, with one tower room notable for its flag floor and fireplace featuring an architrave, frieze, and cornice. Other rooms have plain panelling. Lyulph’s Tower is an early example of the Romantic Gothick castellated style, and it has been referenced by Wordsworth, Southey, and Scott.