Welburn Hall

Welburn Hall is a country house, now used as a school, with an interesting history spanning several centuries. The main body of the house dates from 1890 to 1893, designed by Walter Brierley for Miss E. Clarke. It incorporates an earlier east wing constructed around 1610 for Sir John Gibson. Further extensions were added in 1895 by Walter Brierley, for Mr. J. Shaw, and parts were rebuilt after a fire in 1932 by E. Priestley.

The original 17th-century wing is built of dressed sandstone, while the remainder of the house is sandstone ashlar with a slate roof. The 19th-century main range is complemented by a crosswing to the right and a 17th-century crosswing to the left, connected by two parallel 19th-century ranges. The house is two stories and an attic on a chamfered plinth, with a three-story porch and a two-story extension range. The design is asymmetrical.

The central projecting porch has panelled double doors with carved spandrels, beneath a segmental arch with grooved, splayed reveals. A moulded string course runs across the front, stepped above the doorway, with a similar band at attic level below a plain, coped parapet. The fenestration is irregular, featuring mullion and transom windows throughout.

The 17th-century crosswing was partly rebuilt after the 1931 fire. Surviving elements include a 5-light mullion and transom window under a flat dripmould, a 4-light mullion and transom window to the left, and further similar windows overlooking a courtyard enclosed by the 19th-century extension ranges. The garden-facing gable end retains an original two-story canted bay with castellated details and a 12-light first-floor mullion and double-transom window. The mullions and transoms in the 17th-century section are ovolo-moulded. A moulded string course runs across the tops of the windows on the street frontage, projecting forward over carved brackets. A round-headed doorway survives in the angle of the crosswing and the garden front, with moulded jambs, imposts and a dropped keyblock carved with a mask and leaves. The rest of the garden front was largely rebuilt after the 1931 fire, to a modified design.

Inside, a reset 17th-century chimney piece is found in the entrance hall. The Tudor-arched fireplace in a carved surround has fluted pilasters on pedestals, a strapwork-carved frieze and a mantle shelf on leaf-carved brackets. The overmantel is composed of three equal panels topped by two horizontal bands, strapwork and a projecting cornice.