Tennis Pavilion, Pitliver House

Pitliver House began as a 17th-century building, was enlarged into an L-plan house during the 18th century, and received Baronial embellishments including a tower in the mid-19th century. The main house is two storeys with a basement and a stair-tower cap house. It is built of pinned rubble with ashlar surrounds to the openings, margins, and a cavetto-moulded eaves course. The first stage of the larger north-west stair tower and the north-east and south-east elevations are harled.

The north-west principal elevation features a three-storey stair tower with a cap house. It has an ashlar base course and vertical margins. The central timber door has decorative hinges and door furniture, a radial semi-circular fanlight, and a single step leading up to it. The ashlar arched door surround is flanked by ashlar pilasters, with a carriage lamp mounted on the left pilaster. Above the door is a corniced entablature with a curled pediment containing a shield and a ball finial. An iron boot scraper with decorative toad detail sits to the left of the door. Long linear windows flank the doorway, and two moulded string courses run above, extending to the left return. The first floor has a window to the right and a linear window to the left, with paired second-floor windows at the centre. The tower is topped by an advanced corbelled parapet with corner battlements. The cap house has a central dormer window with a tall pediment. Set back to the left is a smaller stair tower of three storeys plus basement, with single windows in the basement, first and second floors, and a moulded bipartite window at the upper storey. This tower has ashlar quoins, a moulded string course between the second and third floors, a slightly advanced upper storey, a moulded parapet, and corner battlements. Further left is a two-bay, three-storey section set back, with three basement windows, two principal floor windows, and two first-floor windows centred above with bracketed pediments. To the far right is the gable wall of the 18th-century extension, with a basement window to the left, a central plaque with moulded surrounds and a carved tree decoration, and a cryptic inscription below: "HE VHA VOD IN BYE BE VEL AYE MAVN TRVTH TO VEL-VOD TEL. TRVTH IN THAT VEL MAVN EVER BE FRAE VHILK DOTH GROV YE VELVOD TREE".

The south-west elevation has four bays, with a basement window to the left, a door at the second bay, two windows to the right, and four symmetrically arranged windows at the principal and first floors. The south-east elevation is two storeys with five bays. A glazed door to the left has stone steps leading up to it with an iron balustrade decorated with owls and flowers, and a first-floor window centred above. Three central windows are arranged on both the lower and upper storeys. To the far right, the elevation rises to three storeys with a bipartite ground-floor window and single first and second-floor windows. The north-east elevation is three storeys with a central timber basement door, principal floor windows to the right and left, and first-floor windows centred above with bracketed pediments.

The windows are predominantly 16 and 12-pane timber sash and case. The roof is grey slate and piended, except for the north-west gable which has raised flat-head skews. The lower stair tower has a flat roof and the larger stair tower cap house a gabled roof. There is a corniced gable-end stack to the north-west gable, corniced gable-end stacks to the cap house, two corniced ridge stacks to the south-east roof, and circular cans. The interior was not seen in 2000.

The estate square comprises two-storey and single-storey estate buildings enclosing a square-plan courtyard situated to the west of Pitliver House. They are built of exposed rubble stone with ashlar surrounds to the openings and quoins, a corniced eaves course, and rendered elevations.

The north-east elevation is two storeys with seven bays. A round-headed cart opening is at the far left, with two windows to the right. A central archway has an advanced keystone and imposts, with three windows to the right. Seven first-floor windows are centred above the ground-floor openings. The left quoin is chamfered. Two stone fore-stairs inside the courtyard lead to the first-floor flats, and a monogrammed bracket is located east of the archway inside the courtyard.

The north-west elevation has a two-storey single-bay section at the far left with a central glazed door with a rectangular fanlight and a central canted breaking-eaves first-floor oriel window. To the right is a single-storey continuous garage with six modern up-and-over garage doors.

The south-west elevation has a large window in the garage gable end wall to the far left. To the right is a single-storey keeper's cottage with a central glazed timber door and two flanking windows. An infill wall with a glazed canopy roof separates the garage and cottage, and a doorway to the right leads into the courtyard. A recessed blocked archway is to the right in the courtyard elevation of the keeper's cottage.

The south-east elevation has a two-storey three-bay section to the right with a glazed door to the left, a central window (formerly a door), and a window to the right. Three first-floor breaking-eaves dormer windows are centred above. To the far left is a single-storey keeper's cottage with a glazed door to the left and two windows to the right.

The windows are predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case. The roofs are piended and slated, with ridge and wall-end coped stacks and circular cans. The interiors were not seen in 2000.

The tennis pavilion dates to circa 1930 and is a small single-storey building situated south of Pitliver House. It has a central glazed section with glazed doors to both elevations, is rendered elsewhere, and has ashlar surrounds to the glazing and a plinth. Steps to the south lead to the tennis courts. The roof is piended slate with a central weather vane. Inside, there are recesses with clothes hooks at the gable ends and a wall-mounted later 20th-century telephone.

The south-west polo stables date to 1937 and form a U-plan stable block. They are single storey with a loft, with rendered walls and an ashlar base course, window cills, and central window surrounds.

The south-east principal elevation has an advanced switch room to the left with a window to the left and an archway to the right. A large opening in the right return forms a porch with an ashlar corbel, the switch room door set to the left, and the tack room door to the right. The central stable block has a door to the far left under the porch and three central windows. An advanced carriage house to the right has a small round-headed window with Y-tracery and a large carriage opening in the left return.

The south-west elevation has a window to the right of the stable gable wall and an advanced section to the far right with a tack room window to the left and a wall-end stack. The north-west elevation has four small regularly placed windows near the eaves. An advanced shed runs along the length of the elevation with three windows and garage doors in the right return. The north-east elevation has a central window to the carriage house. The stable is set back to the right with a plank door to the left and a loft opening above to the right.

The windows are timber sash and case. Four large roof lights are set to the front and rear. The roof is piended slate with a central ventilation shaft dated 1937. Paviers are laid in the front courtyard.

Inside, the switch room has a ceramic sink with tapered legs and wooden draining boards. The tack room has a fireplace and tongue-and-groove walls with metal harness brackets. The stable has four loose boxes with teak panelling, iron railings, and ball finials to the columns, with sliding doors. There are two mangers in each box. A walkway to the front has a drainage channel and water taps to the south-west.

The north-east polo stables also date to 1937 and form a linear range with central stables, a tack room to the north-west, and a carriage house to the south-west. The walls are rendered with an ashlar base course, window cills, and curved ends to the partitions between the stables.

The south-west principal elevation has an advanced tack room at the far left with a central window. The symmetrical block to the right contains four stables with advanced partition walls either side of each stable. Each stable has a plank door with large flanking windows. A hoist door wholly in the roof is above the far right stable. The carriage house is set back to the far right and has three windows.

The north-west elevation has two windows to the tack room and a chimney stack. A loft door wholly in the roof of the stable gable is accessed by a metal spiral staircase. The north-east elevation has four regularly placed windows to the central stable block. The tack room is set back to the right with a door to the left and a window to the right flank. The carriage house is set back to the far left with a window to the right. The south-east elevation has a garage door with ashlar upper courses either side.

The principal elevation stable windows are 12-pane timber sash and case; elsewhere they are 6-pane timber. There are two rear roof lights and one to the front. The roof is piended slate with two metal ridge vents to the stables. Inside, the tack room has a ceramic sink with tapered legs and a wooden draining board.

The garden walls and gatepiers include tall rubble walls enclosing the garden on three sides to the south-east of the estate square, with doorways within, brick to the south-east, and a rounded corner at the north-west. The south-east wall connects with the south-west corner of Pitliver House and has a doorway leading into the garden with a timber door featuring a geometric cut-away design. A water barrel and hand pump are adjacent to the door. A rubble wall extends north-westwards from the south-west corner incorporating an archway and stone steps. A tall brick garden wall (rubble to the exterior) extends from the north-east corner of Pitliver House running north-eastwards, incorporating a doorway with a timber door featuring a geometric cut-away design and a stone lintel inscribed "THE LORD IS MY BEGINNER. IN CHRYST I TRUST ALWAYES". The wall continues south-eastwards with brick piers and a timber roof to a pergola and a timber door with a geometric cut-away design. Brackets carrying a former protective canopy remain. Stone garden walls run to the south-east and south-west, and brick and stone walls to the north-west. The terraced gardens have four sets of stone steps centrally aligned with the south-east elevation. Iron gates with floral and bird decoration lead to the lowest steps, and ball finials top two other steps. A sundial base and shaft are situated close to the south-east elevation (the dial is missing). Entrance gatepiers east of Pitliver House, adjacent to the lodge, have chamfered stone piers with corniced coping stones and decorative iron gates. Gatepiers to the north-east of the house have plain columns with ball-finial coping stones and timber gates.