Sleningford Park

Sleningford Park is a country house dating from the early 18th century, originally built for Mr Wray and likely designed by William Thornton. Later additions and alterations were made in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The house is constructed of rubble with gritstone dressings, and has a blue-slate roof, with some sections replaced by cement tiles.

The main block is three stories and five bays wide, with a two-story, three-bay wing to the right, a single-story kitchen block (now a garage) further to the right, a single-story three-bay wing to the left, and a conservatory to the far left. The main block has quoins. The central entrance features an 18th-century panelled door, now with glazed upper sections, flanked by rusticated pilasters with a five-part keyed lintel and pediment. The ground floor windows are sash windows with glazing bars set within architraves; the second-story windows also have six-pane sashes in architraves. A ground-floor sill band, a deep moulded eaves cornice, and a gritstone blocking course are visible. The roof is hipped, with four parallel ridges and end stacks. The flanking wings have windows of a similar style, with a continuing sill band, hipped roofs and a blocking course to the right.

The rear elevation has a central 20th-century glazed double door within a Gibbs surround, ornamented with a five-part keyed lintel and pediment. The fenestration is similar to the front, with a 20th-century glazed door with overlight inserted into a ground-floor window on the far right. One window on each floor to the right of the centre is boarded up. There have been 20th-century alterations to the right wing, and a 19th-century two-story, three-bay block was added to the left.

Inside, the entrance hall has a plaster overmantel decorated with the ostrich badge of the Wray family, and a dentilled ceiling cornice. The library features acanthus-leaf moulding to the ceiling cornice and classical motifs to the architraves. The dining room is panelled with early 18th and 19th-century fielded panels, and contains a 19th-century fireplace. The staircase hall has a dado with a panel framed by fasces, plain balusters, and a ramped mahogany handrail. The staircase rises to the second floor and is positioned behind the boarded-up windows at the rear. The first floor retains ceiling moulding similar to that of the entrance hall, indicating the original narrow staircase hall’s former location; this space is now occupied by a landing and bathroom. The main bedrooms contain large panels, some of which were altered when the staircase position was changed. Moulded and dentilled eaves cornices are present throughout. Fine six-panel doors in architraves and window shutters are found in the main rooms on the first and second floors.