Doughill Hall

Doughill Hall is a house dating to 1722, built for the Dougill family. It is constructed of gritstone ashlar with a graduated stone slate roof. The building is three storeys high, with a five-bay, two-room-deep main block and a two-storey, two-bay service block attached to the rear. The central doorway features a six-panel door, the top two panels glazed, set within an eared and shouldered architrave. A lintel above the door is inscribed 'D 1722 I E'. Cross windows are present on the ground and first floors, most with a single casement, each with a moulded architrave, pulvinated frieze, and cornice. The top storey has two-light mullion windows with an architrave and keyed lintel. A deep moulded eaves cornice runs along the building, with projecting panels to the centre and each end. The roof has an ashlar coping and corniced end stacks. A single-storey addition dated 1910 on the right is not of particular architectural interest.

The rear of the house features an original door in a moulded surround, now obscured by an extension. A large cross window illuminates the staircase. Recessed-chamfered mullion windows with three and four lights are also present. Shaped kneelers adorn the upper section. Attached to the right rear of the hall and connected by a covered passage is a possible former kitchen or service block which was converted into a flat around 1980. This block has a central door on its south side with a large lintel inscribed ‘D G E 1696' in a rectangular surround with external triangles. A door at first-floor level is visible in the right return. The left return features a central lead fall pipe with embossed bands and a reservoir embossed with 'I D 1722'.

Inside, a front right room, formerly entered from the front door, is now partitioned off and contains a cross beam with cyma stops. The principal room to the front left has excellent original pine panelling throughout, including large fielded panels, fluted pilasters, a moulded dado rail, and ceiling cornice. A corner cupboard is lined with wood and features round-arched glazed double doors retaining original glass; shutters with hinges and bars are also present, and a panelled cross beam is visible. A fireplace is surrounded by a stone surround. A rear room on the left retains plasterwork to the ceiling cornice with elaborate moulding carried over the cross beam, which is decorated with six roses in relief. The fireplace in this room was rebuilt around 1970, incorporating a door lintel and surround from an outbuilding dated ‘R 1612 D’. Another rear room to the right, the kitchen, has a wide fireplace arch of joggled voussoirs, and exposed ceiling timberwork reveals a break in the joist line, suggesting a former separate access to a room above by a steep ladder or stairs. The main staircase at the rear, central, features fine original turned balusters. Original tall six-panel doors are found throughout.