Dovenby Hall and adjoining rear wing

Dovenby Hall and adjoining rear wing

A fortified house, now disused hospital. The building comprises a tower dating from the late 13th century and a house of the 17th century, which was remodelled as a country house in the early 19th century for the Ballentine-Dykes family. It is painted stucco with a hipped roof of graduated green slate. There are approximately twelve coped stacks of ashlar, with ashlar quoins and a moulded eaves cornice. The structure is arranged in an L-plan with two storeys.

The entrance block forms a five-window range with double depth plan. A central tetrastyle Ionic portico covers 20th-century doors and an overlight in a panelled reveal with painted architrave. On either side of the portico are two windows, and above are five windows. All of these windows are 9/6 glazing bar sashes with projecting architraves. The right return has a similar window above and below it a slightly projecting mullioned window of three lights. A square tower stands to the right rear, featuring similar windows.

The left return has five windows. A slightly projecting central bay contains a large 9/9 glazing bar sash, flanked to the left by a late 19th-century canted bay window of three lights. To the right are two 9/6 glazing bar sashes, and above are five similar windows. The left rear has irregular fenestration at ground floor level. Above, to the left, is a glazing bar sash with Gothick tracery of early 19th-century date, and a smaller glazing bar sash. Inset into the facade are two armorial plaques inscribed "1632 LD" and "1652", and a sundial inscribed "R & ML 1691".

The rear wing is two storeys and forms an eight-window range. To the left is a slightly projecting end bay of two windows under a pediment. An off-centre canted bay window of two storeys has four lights with glazing bar sashes. To the left are three glazing bar sashes on each floor. To the right is a similar sash, then a door, and above are two similar sashes. Inset are three armorial plaques and an inscription referring to Warthole Hall, a former home of the Dykes family.

The west wing is two storeys with an eleven-window range and irregular fenestration. Adjacent to the house is a segment-arched carriage entrance with keystone. To its right is an early 19th-century block with a coped gable and two windows on each floor. The ground floor windows have been renewed, while the first floor windows are glazing bar sashes. In the return angle to the right is a square projection with quoins and string course, now roofless. The right return contains a two-light pointed arched window under a label mould, flanked to the left by a chamfered pointed arched doorway and to the right by a blocked doorway with flat head. These appear to be reset fragments from the 13th century. Beyond are a single blocked window and an external stack. To its right are two recessed glazing bar windows, and above are two coped through-eaves dormers and four windows of various dates, with only one corresponding to the dormers. A projecting range with three coped gables follows, dating from the 17th century. A central door of mid-20th-century date is flanked by windows. Above are three two-light windows with chamfered stone mullions and surrounds. The rear elevation, in roughcast, has irregular fenestration and a central external stair.

The interior contains features of architectural interest. The entrance passage has a dentillated cornice, two panelled round arches, and four reeded doorcases with rosettes and six-panel doors. The drawing room has a foliage cornice and plain frieze, with two reeded round arched cupboards. The adjoining room and stair well have similar cornices. An open-well wooden staircase has double stick balusters, reeded square newels, and a ramped scrolled handrail. The oak room at the rear has 19th-century panelling and a strapwork ceiling, together with a Renaissance Revival fireplace flanked by shell-headed niches. A rear stair of 17th-century date has heavy turned balusters and a moulded handrail. This was largely boxed in at the time of survey.