The Old Inn, Charlestown

The Old Inn, Charlestown

This 18th-century house underwent later remodelling and significant additions. The main building is a 2-storey structure with attic and basement, arranged over 3 bays, with a distinctive advanced central semi-circular fenestration bay facing east. Rear wings extend to the north, and a single-storey office wing with basement extends to the south. The exterior is harled with ashlar surrounds.

The principal (eastern) elevation features a central sandstone ashlar section with an advanced, corniced semi-circular ground-floor bay containing a central glazed door and flanking windows. Above, a flat roof with railings supports a central mullioned tripartite window, surmounted by a cornice and low parapet raised at the centre. Flanking single windows occupy the ground and first floors. The office wing to the south contains 3 ground-floor windows and 3 basement windows, the central basement window being blocked.

The south elevation is partially obscured by the later office wing but reveals 2 first-floor windows, one blind to the left. A curved, corniced sandstone gable belongs to the office wing, which has a mullioned tripartite window (with a former door in the centre) and a segmental window above. The gable is surmounted by a low parapet, raised at the centre, echoing the principal elevation. A stone step marks the location of the former door.

The west elevation is complex, showing multiple phases of construction. An advanced 2-storey and attic wing stands to the left, a central 2-storey stair tower extension, and a single-storey office wing to the right. Later additions obscure the earlier house. An entrance door to the right features an advanced corniced architrave and a decorative semi-circular radial fanlight in a rectangular opening. A blind first-floor window is centred above. A polygonal stair tower to the left has a ground-floor window and a flagpole above. An advanced 2-bay gable to the left contains a ground-floor window to the right and a small square opening to the left, with 2 blind first-floor windows. A later flat-roofed addition to the far left has a ground-floor window. The office wing to the far right has a sandstone wall with a blocked central window.

The north elevation adopts a U-plan form. A lean-to outshot to the left has a ground-floor window; another ground-floor window stands to the left of the outshot. The recessed central section of the rear wing contains a first-floor window, with a flat-roofed porch below featuring a corniced and droved stone doorpiece, panelled door, and 8-pane rectangular fanlight above. A 2-storey, flat-roofed later addition to the right has a mullioned bipartite ground-floor window, a single first-floor window to the left, a mullioned bipartite first-floor window to the right, and a single first-floor window in the left return.

The interior, partially seen in 2000, comprises a single room depth to the main house with kitchen and bedroom wing to the rear (north). A staircase occupies the south side, and a central stone staircase with cupola rises through the centre. Panelled doors with decorative fanlights remain throughout.

Windows are predominantly 12 and 16-pane timber sash and case, with larger windows on the right of the principal elevation. A small central rooflight lights the east elevation; a flat-roof dormer breaks the south elevation of the rear west wing. The roof is piended slate over the earlier house and office wing, pitched over the rear wing, and flat over the stair tower and north addition. Two corniced central ridge stacks rise from the principal elevation, with a further stack at the south gable end. A gable end stack serves the rear west wing; a wallhead chimney with tiering stands at the left of the flat-roofed north addition. Circular cans are distributed throughout. A large wallhead stack with scalloped base serves the west elevation of the office wing. Cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

Harled outbuildings stand to the north of the house. Two buildings to the west are joined by a central gateway, which has flat coping and an arched opening below with timber doors and thick timber tracery above. The south building has a piended slate roof; the north has a piended pantile roof. A shed and yard occupy the north side. Rubble and harled lean-to outhouses to the east have central replacement doors and pantile roofs.

A tall brick wall runs from the north gable of the original house along the rear of the east outbuildings and eastwards, bounding the north side of the garden. An arched doorway with intersecting timber tracery above is positioned near the north gable of the house. A door in the northwest corner of the garden wall opens into a garden structure and doocot; a pointed arch recess above the door contains doocot flight holes, with a north-facing lean-to roof.