Thornton College

Thornton College is a mansion that underwent rebuilding around 1850, designed by John Tarring for Richard Cavendish. It incorporates elements from a late 18th-century remodelling and the fabric of a medieval house, which was once home to Robert Ingleton, chancellor to Edward IV. The exterior is cement rendered with stone dressings and features steeply pitched slate roofs in a Gothic style.

The east front has a symmetrical arrangement of bays: 1 : 2 : 1 : 2 : 1, with the end bays being gabled and slightly advanced. These bays include shallow two-storey bay windows adorned with quatrefoil and trefoil friezes. The centre features a two-storey and attic gabled ashlar porch with octagonal turrets, pinnacles, and similar friezes, along with a moulded ogee arched doorway that has a traceried door and a panel above displaying the Cavendish arms. Each bay is accented with a moulded stone string course and parapet coping. The windows are 2 and 4-light mullions with four-centred arched lights, transomed on the ground floor, and include hood-moulds above the ground floor and attic windows.

To the southwest, there is a wing that has traceried hall windows and a square embattled tower at the angle. There is also a former brewhouse wing adjoining the northwest, constructed of rubble stone, which has two storeys and an attic with five bays of windows on the rear side.

Inside, the mansion features a well-preserved interior from around 1850, including a staircase, a stair window with heraldic stained glass, and a Gothic screen leading to the staircase hall, which has a rib-vaulted corridor behind it. The library, tower, porch, and drawing room have enriched moulded ceilings, while the drawing room contains Gothic doors and arches. The current chapel likely occupies the original great hall and features a 19th-century arched brace hammerbeam roof.