Leigh House

Leigh House is a large country house, now divided into four separate units, dating from 1617 with significant modifications in 1893. It was originally built for the Henley family. The house is constructed primarily of local lias stone ashlar, with Ham stone dressings, and has Welsh slate roofs punctuated by moulded coped gables with obelisk and ball finials.

The building is arranged around an 'E' plan. The east elevation is two storeys high with attics, and features five bays, with the outer bays projecting forward by two bays. The central bay slightly projects. Details include a plinth, a moulded string above the first-floor windows, gables to each bay, ovolo-mould mullioned windows set within wave-mould surrounds. Ground floor windows are predominantly five-light with labels; bays two and four have taller windows with transoms. Returns of the end bays feature five-light windows with labels. The first floor mirrors the ground floor pattern but with four-light windows and no labels. Attic windows are three-light and similarly labelled. The central bay is distinguished by a semi-circular open arch with imposts and a square label, above which is a square plaque bearing the Henley arms, and a transomed and three-light attic window. Rainwater stockheads in the corners are dated 1893.

The south elevation, also six bays wide, largely echoes the east elevation. Bays one and two are only two stories high and are considered a later addition. These bays contain a transomed four-light window and a cambered-arched doorway under a square label. Bays three to six follow the two-storey with attic plan, each with a gable. Bay four has a two-story angled bay window with a transomed lower window and a plain parapet and flat roof. Bay five has a three-light window on two levels, with a recessed, ovolo-moulded, cambered-arched doorway below, capped by a square label. Bay six presents a two-story angled bay window and a three-light attic window. All windows have rectangular leaded glazing. A rainwater stackhead is dated 1617.

The north elevation has a similar character to the east and south, although it incorporates 19th and 20th-century additions to the north-east corner. Interiors are not publicly accessible, but a ground floor room in the south-east corner retains early 17th-century panelling. Reports also mention panelled rooms and a thin-ribbed plaster ceiling.