Steane Park

Steane Park is a country house that originated in the 16th or 17th century, with alterations made in the 19th century. A section of the larger house was demolished around 1750. The building features squared coursed limestone, coursed rubble, and ironstone dressings, topped with a tiled roof and stone stacks. It stands two storeys high with an attic and has a south front with seven bays, including two gables on the left and one on the right. The doorway in the right bay has a stone four-centred arch and a nine-panel door, while there is a blocked doorway with a similar arch in the third bay from the left. The windows are irregularly spaced stone mullioned windows with two, three, and four lights, each with square hoods. The third bay from the right has 19th-century stone mullioned windows on both the ground and first floors, as well as in the left bay on the ground floor. The main entrance is on the east side, remodeled in the 19th century, featuring a storey bay window and a gabled stone porch from the same period. The rear of the house has six gables and stone mullioned and transomed windows, most of which were renewed in the 19th century. A north-west bay near the porch was added in the 19th century. Although the interior was not inspected, it is reported to contain a 17th-century stone fireplace in the dining room with a four-centred arch and an 18th-century staircase with turned balusters, which was elaborated with additional carving in the 19th century. Originally, this was the Manor House of the Bray family, and around 1590 it passed by marriage to Thomas Crewe, Speaker of the House of Commons, who remodeled the house. It is depicted in a 17th-century painting located in Durham Castle.