Womersley Park And Adjoining Coach-House And Stables

A small country house with adjoining coach-house and stables, situated on Womersley Park Lane. The building originates from the 17th century but underwent extensive alterations and additions spanning from the late 17th century through the 19th century. Notable phases of work include late 17th to early 18th-century changes for Tobiah Harvey, mid-18th-century alterations probably by James Paine, and late 18th-century alterations probably by Robert Adam.

The house is constructed of magnesian limestone, mainly rendered, with ashlar and brick dressings and a Welsh slate roof. It is U-shaped in plan. The main range comprises 7 bays and 2 storeys with attics. Advanced 2-storey, 2-bay wings terminate in canted bays. The central entrance features a Doric portico with engaged Doric pilasters, frieze and pediment, and a half-glazed door. The ground floor fenestration includes 8-pane sashes to the centre bays and wings, and 4-pane sashes to the canted bays. The first floor of the main range has 15-pane unequally hung sashes, whilst the wings and canted bays have 12-pane sashes. All windows are set in tooled ashlar architraves with moulded sills, and many retain original glass. A moulded cornice runs throughout, with a low parapet partly concealing roof dormers. The hipped roof has separate lower roofs to the bays, with ridge and rear stacks.

A further entrance on the west side comprises a 6-fielded-panel door with divided fanlight under a round ashlar arch on Doric pilasters. The garden facade to the east features a canted bay to the centre with an entrance via a 4-pane sash to ground level in a tooled ashlar architrave.

The interior retains numerous original features of quality. The drawing room to the east wing is reputedly by Paine and contains sumptuous decoration: a moulded ceiling decorated with armour and naturalistic motifs; a moulded frieze and cornice; an arcade of fluted Corinthian columns; moulded shutters and dado; and a splendid tri-colour marble fireplace with a central relief of a youth with grapes and a dog, Ionic columns to the sides, and Delft tiles within. The moulded fielded-panel doors are original.

The entrance hall features an arcade of Greek Doric columns and an elaborate cornice with C-scroll and grape motifs. A white marble fireplace has nymphs on pedestals in relief to the sides, with alcoves containing glazed latticed doors.

The inner staircase hall, probably of late 18th to early 19th-century date, contains a mahogany open well, closed string staircase with turned spindle balusters and a wreathed handrail with iron lamps at the first-floor level. The string has roundel moulding and is supported on an arcade of mahogany Corinthian columns. Moulded mahogany doors bear roundel motifs. A moulded Neo-classical cornice and central ceiling rose ornament the space. A 2-colour marble Neo-classical fireplace is present. The staircase window is of stained glass, a later insertion reusing 17th-century glass by Henry Gyles depicting portraits of Roman Emperors and coats of arms.

An early 18th-century dogleg service staircase has onion-on-vase balusters, two per tread. A library, reputedly by Robert Adam, displays a moulded frieze and cornice with moulded bookshelves, door and shutters. Other rooms contain good marble fireplaces, cornices, 6-panel doors and window shutters. Cellars from the 17th century retain 2-light mullion windows with chamfered mullions and single-light windows in double-chamfered surrounds.

The stable range comprises a 2-storey, 6-bay range abutting the north-west corner of the house, with further stable ranges to the rear. A carriage entrance to the third bay has a segmental arch and quoined ashlar architrave with plank carriage doors. The ground floor features primarily 12-pane sashes with moulded sills and tooled architraves, except for the first bay where a 2-light mullion window is blocked. The first floor has 9-pane unequally hung sashes with moulded sills and tooled architraves. Rear ranges have three entrances: one a 6-fielded-panel door, with plank doors and all under fanlights with glazing bars elsewhere. Plank carriage entrances and stable doors are mostly under brick segmental arches with ashlar keystones. The ranges contain primarily 8 and 12-pane sashes under elliptical arches, with some casement windows. The first floor of each range has pitching doors with flights of steps.

The interior of the stable ranges retains Neo-classical stalls to the north-east corner, comprising 3 stalls with round-arched arcading on slender pillars.

There were reputedly close contacts between Nostrell Priory and Womersley Park during the 18th century.