Forton House And Railings Fronting House, Returned To South East Corner With Gatepiers

Forton House is an early 19th-century house, possibly incorporating an earlier dwelling, with an east range added in the late 19th century. A rear extension was added in the mid-20th century and is not considered of special interest. The house’s front is rendered to imitate ashlar over random rubble, with exposed rubble on the left return and brickwork at the rear. It has slate roofs with coped verges, and brick stacks at the left gable end, to the left of the entrance, and the right gable end of the original block.

The plan features a front range linked to a longer range at the rear by a staircase hall. The house is two storeys high and has a 4:1 bay arrangement. The bay to the right has a gabled front with stone mullioned 2-light sash windows; the main block has gabled tops to its windows, all 20th-century metal 3-light windows, except for a 2-light window above the entrance. The ground floor right-hand side has a cruciform window with side-lights; to the left and right of the pilaster doorcase are two 12-pane sash windows. The entrance has a half-glazed door and a fanlight with radiating bars. A single-storey, hipped-roof cast-iron verandah, featuring a vine leaf motif and elliptical-headed bays of irregular disposition, has a curved glass roof now renewed with corrugated plastic sheeting.

The left return has two trefoil-headed 2-light windows on the ground floor. A half-hipped wing with a double-Roman tiled roof and gabled dormers sits set back at the rear. The interior was not inspected. The arrangement of the front facade’s windows suggests the house may be a refronted 3-cell and cross-passage farmhouse.

The property is surrounded by walls, gatepiers, and a lamp overthrow dating from the early to mid-19th century. These are constructed of Ham stone with cast and wrought iron. Railings are set between piers and extend to gatepiers on the axis of the entrance, stepping back and returning to the south-east gable end of the house, leading to a stable yard. The ashlar piers have pyramid tops, a moulded cornice and entablature, triangular-headed uprights, and urn standards. An elegant curved double overthrow supports an empty circular lamp holder with a coroneted top and crested base. 20th-century double gates are not of special interest.