Newton Surmaville

Newton Surmaville is a country house built between 1608 and 1612 for Robert Harbin, with minor alterations in the 19th century. The house is constructed of ham stone, squared and random coursed, with ashlar dressings, and has Welsh slate roofs with coped gables, some lead flat roofs, and stone chimney stacks with pierced stone cowls topped with ball finials. It was designed with a Medieval hall plan, which was reworked into a Classical and symmetrical layout, influenced by Montacute House. A library and rear service areas were added in 1875.

The main, north-facing elevation is two stories high with gable attics, featuring five bays. The first, third, and fifth bays are gabled, while the second and fourth bays project with flat roofs behind balustraded parapets. The ground level includes a plinth and string courses, with plain coped gables adorned with numerous finials, including obelisks. A semi-circular arched entrance porch is situated within the fourth bay, housing a heavy door recessed within a square panel displaying the Harbin and Pert family arms. The windows are mullioned and transomed with ovolo moulding; a five-light, three-light window occupies the second bay and the upper bay of the fourth bay. Other bays contain matching five-light ground floor windows, four-light first-floor windows, and three-light attic windows without transoms.

The east front, which faces the river, has four bays separated by projecting gables with chimney stacks, one of which is a chimney. A central projection features a plain doorway with a coat of arms above, and three-light mullioned and transomed windows span the width of bays two and three. The west elevation is simpler, with a single-story projecting porch in the center.

Internally, the primary rooms have seen little alteration. The entrance passage leads to a mostly 19th-century staircase lobby. To the right is the breakfast parlour, incorporating original panelling, and to the left, the one-story hall with later panelling and a Georgian cornice on a plain ceiling. This hall leads to the drawing room, which displays original panelling and a thin-ribbed plaster ceiling, along with two fine Brussels tapestries. Further along the east front, the original panelling and thin-ribbed ceilings with pendants remain. The staircase to the rear, wrapping around a garde-robe flue, was significantly altered in the 19th century when a rear passage was created. A central first-floor bedroom retains original plasterwork, panelling, a fireplace, and tapestries. The first-floor library, located in the south-east corner and added in 1875 to the design of Joseph N Johnstone, has a prominent oriel window. A paved courtyard on the south side contains 19th-century stables and a cider room.