Cornhill Manor with detached motor house

Cornhill Manor with Detached Motor House

This large house was built in 1908 and designed by Harold Tarbolton for FH Burn. It is accompanied by an associated motor house. Both structures are built of brick with tile roofs.

The house follows a loose L-plan, with its entrance facade facing north onto a wide forecourt and its principal garden elevation facing south. The principal block and service range occupy each end of the plan. The motor house, which stands to the north-east, is roughly square on plan.

The house is designed in Edwardian style with elements of Arts and Crafts throughout. It is characterised by brick elevations with sweeping tiled roofs, with detailing and decoration in terracotta, timber and stone.

The main entrance is contained in a projecting gabled bay with a dressed stone surround to the ground floor only and an ornately carved timber canopy. To one side is a small window with a stylised cusped head, and glass lanterns hang from the canopy. Above the door is a carved inscription reading 'VINCIT VERITAS' with carved panels flanking the door itself. The house has varying wall planes and gabled roofscapes with tall chimneys and irregular fenestration throughout. All windows are casements with cambered heads, and there is a large stair window to the left of the main entrance. Cast iron rainwater goods feature decorative hoppers throughout, some displaying the date of 1908, and others with naturalistic motifs such as an owl catching a mouse.

The western elevation facing the side garden has two tall gabled projections with a recessed section between. The gables have applied timber framing below their moulded bargeboards, and the central section has a row of carved bosses applied to a stringcourse beneath the first floor windows.

The principal garden-facing elevation has a central section recessed between two projecting wings. The western wing has a large canted bay stepping forward, while the eastern wing is rectangular. The central portion has a ground floor loggia behind a carved timber arcade, with three large dormer windows in the roof above. Large angled chimneys rise in the corners between this main portion and the wings. Both wings have carved panels, one with a sundial, and moulded brickwork in places.

To the east, the former gun room has a stone door surround with a carved date stone. Beyond this, the service wing has two further projecting gables each with tall chimneys rising from their outer parts. Ground floor doors give access to the covered courtyard and workshop space, and large windows to the north highlight the kitchen within.

Interior

The principal rooms are arranged along the southern side, with the former music room, oak parlour, dining room and school room all facing the garden. The octagonal vestibule and round hall provide circulation spaces, with further corridors beyond, and the principal stairs rising from the round hall to the first floor. A small water closet accessed from the vestibule has decorative 17th-century-style plasterwork and some surviving tiled detailing. The vestibule itself has an inlaid stone floor and central plasterwork roundel. The round hall has a timber floor and open gallery above which rises to the first floor and rooflight above. Around the hall are plaster panels depicting hunting scenes. Throughout the interior there are original doors surviving in many places with differing styles of decoration and detailing.

The music room is the largest space internally. It has a sprung timber floor and recessed stage area behind a carved timber screen. The ceiling is coved around its edges with a flat central section with decorative plasterwork ribs. The oak parlour beyond has timber panelled walls and 17th-century-style plasterwork ceiling, with bosses around the cornice. This room has been extended into the hallway beyond to provide a bar space.

Beyond this, the octagonal dining room has neoclassical style decoration, including plaster relief work, with an Adam style fireplace. A small lobby with tiled ceiling beyond gives access to the former school room. The school room has moulded timber beams to the ceiling and a deeply moulded picture rail which is ramped around the end window, and a timber fire surround. Beyond this is a secondary stair with moulded balusters and handrail, and the former gunroom with a decorative plaster cornice.

The layout of the service wing survives largely as built, with a large covered courtyard and an internal workshop, kitchen, scullery and servants' hall. The butlers' pantry retains a tiled cupboard with a safe. A further secondary stair adjacent to the round hall has been removed apart from the flight which gives access to the extensive basement.

The principal stair which rises to the first floor in two flights has decorative moulded balusters and handrail with dado panelling to the walls. It rises through an arcade at first floor to the main landing, with an open well to the hall below and lantern above with decorative plasterwork. The hall adjacent has a shallow barrel vaulted ceiling.

Bedrooms throughout have had en-suite bathrooms inserted. The main family and guest bedrooms all retain plasterwork detailing to their ceilings. The most intricate is that to the principal bedroom and guest bedrooms facing the gardens. The former childrens' room adjacent to the nursery has a plaster frieze depicting natural scenes with animals and foliage decoration. Beyond these rooms the detailing is simpler, including former staff rooms which have little or no detailing.

Motor House

North-east of the house stands the former motor house, which is partly built into the walls of the adjacent walled garden. It is built of brick with a tall tiled roof with some skylights. It has a recessed covered garage area with one side lit by a glazed wall and a floor of engineering bricks. Windows throughout appear to be metal with top-hung casements. The interior has boarded timber ceilings. The motor house appears to have been built incorporating a former potting shed or building which served the walled garden.