Outbuilding, Swinton Hill

Outbuilding at Swinton Hill

A late 18th-century house of symmetrical design with later additions and alterations, constructed in tooled cream sandstone rubble with render repairs to some areas. The building rises to two storeys with a raised basement and attic storey, arranged as a three-bay classically detailed gabled main block. A two-storey wing has been added to the rear, forming an L-shaped plan, with a further addition adjoined to the northwest. A lean-to porch occupies the rear re-entrant angle.

The northeast elevation is rendered. The rear wing features coursed sandstone in part, with sandstone ashlar dressings throughout. Rusticated quoins appear to the front, with droved examples at the rear. A raised band course marks the principal floor level, and a raised lintel course sits beneath corniced eaves. Raised margins and projecting cills are features of the front elevation. A single-storey ancillary structure stands to the northeast.

The entrance elevation faces southeast. Stone steps with decorative iron balustrades oversail the basement and lead to a central entrance with stone treads. The doorway features a later part-leaded and glazed timber panelled door with a leaded fanlight, surrounded by a later doorpiece comprising flanking columns, outer pilasters, a plain frieze, and a dentilled pediment. A single window is aligned at first-floor level above. Flanking bays contain single windows at all floors, with tripartite box-dormers aligned above.

The southwest elevation belongs to the original block, with single windows at ground and first-floor levels in a bay to the outer right (blind at first floor). A small single window is offset to the left of centre at ground level. The outer left bay contains single windows at all floors. A small round-arched window is centred in the apex. A two-storey wing, slightly recessed to the left, displays bipartite windows at both floors in its right bay and single windows at both floors in its left bay. A blind elevation faces the two-storey wing recessed to the outer left.

The rear northwest elevation shows a two-storey wing projecting to the outer right with a boarded timber opening at ground level. A full-height lean-to addition occupies a bay recessed to the left, with a boarded timber door set in a projecting lean-to porch at ground level and a single window offset to the right above. The outer left bay contains single windows at basement and first-floor levels, with the ground-floor window blocked.

The northeast side elevation of the original block features single windows at ground level in bays to the outer left and right (blocked at basement and first-floor levels). A small round-arched window is centred in the apex. A bay recessed to the right contains single windows at ground and first floors, with a single window in the lean-to porch recessed to the right. A two-storey wing is recessed further right with a single window at first-floor level. A further two-storey wing, recessed to the outer right, has a boarded timber door offset to the left at ground level.

Windows predominantly feature four-pane glazing in timber sash-and-case frames, with small-pane casement glazing to the dormers. The roof is covered in grey slate with raised stone skews. Cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout. Corniced brick ridge and apex stacks with octagonal cans complete the roofing details.

The interior was not inspected at the time of the 1998 survey.

The ancillary structure is a single-storey building of five bays, constructed in pointed sandstone rubble with long-and-short sandstone dressings. Its southwest entrance elevation includes a blind elevation to a lean-to projection offset to the right of centre, and part-vented small single windows in flanking bays. Sliding boarded timber doors are fitted in the penultimate bay to the outer left, with a boarded timber door in the bay to the outer left. Windows feature plate glass and four-pane timber glazing, with small rooflights. The roof matches the main building in grey slate with raised stone skews and cast-iron rainwater goods. The interior was not seen in 1998.

The site includes a walled garden to the northeast, enclosed by a rubble wall with a curved corner. Access is via a decorative iron pedestrian gate set between iron gatepiers with an adjoining overthrow, and a boarded timber door. A rubble wall with a coped top partially encloses the site.