Skirwith Abbey, House And Area Railings And Gate

Skirwith Abbey is a large house built in the late 18th century. The front and rear are made of ashlar stone with decorative banding, while the sides are constructed from coursed rubble with string courses around the tops of the bay windows. The building features a moulded plinth, corner pilasters, and some areas of rustication. A plain parapet sits on an eaves cornice, with open balustrading at the center on all four sides. The house has parallel, hipped roofs covered with graduated slate and a chimney stack positioned between them. It is two storeys tall with a basement.

The main front is symmetrical, arranged in a 2:3:2 pattern, and features an entrance accessed by a splayed, balustraded staircase that spans a sunken walkway encircling the house. The entrance includes a 20th-century panelled door set within an architrave, topped by a rusticated semi-circular relieving arch. The rear of the house is similar but arranged in a 1:3:1 pattern, with a French window set in a pedimented doorcase. Each side of the house has a central, full-height, canted bay window, with a sash window on either side on both floors. All sash windows are framed in architraves, most featuring glazing bars, with some displaying trompe l'oeil effects.

Surrounding the sunken walkway, there are cast-iron railings with obelisk standards, and a gate located down steps on the west side.