Enmore Castle With Service Court Outbuildings And Undercroft

Enmore Castle is a country house, representing a surviving wing of a much larger demolished building, now divided into two dwellings. The original design dates back to before 1779, commissioned by John Perceval, Earl of Egmont, with further work undertaken in the early to mid 19th century by the Broadwood family. Significant internal alterations were made in the mid 20th century.

The building is constructed of rubble with freestone dressings and quoins, topped with a hipped slate roof featuring wide bracketed eaves, and brick stacks. Originally conceived as a large, pseudo-baronial mansion with a central courtyard and corner towers, along with stables and offices situated within a substantial undercroft, approximately one quarter of the original structure remains, with a large section of the undercroft still present.

The three-story house has a basement, with the garden front of No. 1 exhibiting a 1:3:1 bay arrangement. The outer bays feature projecting square turrets with semi-circular head windows within bead-moulded surrounds, decorated with emphasised imposts and keystones. These windows are sash designs with glazing bars and traceried gothick heads. The second floor has 4-pane sash windows in dressed stone surrounds. The central three bays incorporate two similar gothick sash windows, three 2-light stone mullioned windows under stepped labels, each light having a semi-circular head, and four pairs of French windows within mullioned and transomed surrounds. A two-story dressed stone verandah, supported by pillars and featuring an entablature and strapwork parapet on the first floor, connects the wings. Two stone medallions with carved busts are inset on the first floor. A loggia, consistent in style with the verandah, is linked to a single-story, single-bay pavilion featuring a gothick sash window. The entrance elevation has sash windows, some paired. Two entrances, one to each dwelling, were altered in the mid 20th century.

The rear of the house steps down to a basement level, revealing a distinct batter to the wall and loopholes within dressed stone surrounds. A service court with outbuildings extends to the south. Various semi-circular archways are present, including one forming an entrance to a brick-vaulted undercroft. A three-story round tower is also visible.

The west side of the service court is enclosed by a wall with banking to the rear, supporting an elevated roadway that covers a brick-vaulted undercroft. This undercroft extends to the south and east, forming a complex labyrinth of underground passages and vaults, primarily brick-lined.

The interior of the dwellings retain some gothick features. A ground-floor room in No. 2 features a panelled cornice with egg and dart enrichment and a pair of fluted Corinthian columns. Some plaster medallions with carved busts are also present.