Manager's House, Paper Mill, Chirnsidebridge

Manager's House, Paper Mill, Chirnsidebridge

A mid-19th century residential building, now converted to offices (1996), this is a substantial two-storey house with basement built on a rectangular plan. The main structure combines droved ashlar with polished ashlar dressings, while the basement features whinstone rubble to the west elevation and the western end of each side elevation. The side and rear elevations are finished with stugged ashlar with droved and polished dressings. The design includes a base course and a band course between ground and first floor, alongside slightly advanced long and short quoins. Timber mullions feature throughout.

The west elevation showcases a slightly advanced central bay that breaks the eaves, containing a deep-set two-leaf panelled door with a rectangular plate glass fanlight flanked by panelled pilasters and three-pane side lights. A first-floor window sits above, and the composition is topped with a consoled pedestal bearing an ashlar urn above the eaves. The flanking bays each contain windows to both floors, with the left bay featuring a segmental arch to the basement and the right bay having a blinded thermal window at basement level.

The east elevation presents bipartite windows to each floor of a central bay with a panelled apron at ground level. The flanking bays have advanced tripartite windows at ground and basement (with timber casing and panelled aprons, beneath a dentilled cornice) and single windows to the first floor of each bay.

The south elevation comprises three bays, with the central and right bays advanced. The central bay contains a flush panelled and glazed door at basement with a first-floor window above. The right bay features an advanced window matching the east elevation style. The left bay is distinguished by a boarded round-arched opening at basement, a bipartite point-arched window at ground with a Tudor hoodmould and blinded quatrefoil above, and a first-floor window.

The north elevation shows an advanced central and left bay. A boarded door with plate glass fanlight occupies the basement of the central bay. The left bay has an advanced window to basement and ground as found on the south elevation, with two closely-spaced windows above at first-floor level. The right bay contains a corbelled timber advanced tripartite window at ground (similar to the left bay but without an advanced basement element) and a first-floor window.

Throughout, the house features border-glazed timber sash and case windows beneath a slate piended roof. The rendered coped chimney stacks and broad eaves with timber ornamental decorative brackets supporting a cornice profile guttering complete the external character.

The interior retains significant features at ground level, including a white marble chimneypiece in the principal rear room with original plasterwork. The manager's office in the southwest ground-floor room preserves delicate classically-inspired cornice work with cameo portraits to the frieze and refined ornamentation to both the chimneypiece and opening surrounds. A cast-iron balustrade with timber handrail and newel posts bearing orb finials is present, along with a tripartite vestibule door featuring a segmental-arched fanlight with ornamental tracery and colouring to its centre.

An octagonal-planned two-storey summerhouse stands to the southwest on ground falling eastward. Its basement is constructed of sandstone rubble, while the ground floor features weathered droved ashlar with polished ashlar dressings. A band course separates the floors, with a blinded quatrefoil opening positioned below a dentilled cornice. The northeast elevation contains a boarded basement door with a ground-floor window above, the east elevation has a small blinded basement window, and the northwest elevation displays a panelled door with plate glass fanlight at ground level. The southeast elevation has a blinded window opening at ground, and the southwest elevation contains a ground-floor window. The summerhouse is topped with a slate pyramidal roof featuring a cast-iron finial and rooflights, and windows throughout are plate glass timber sash and case examples.

A rubble boundary wall with rubble coping extends to the southwest and west, incorporating a red sandstone margin to a boarded door opening on the southwest side. Two carved sandstone masks are set into the wall to the west of the main entrance. Modern square-plan pyramidal-coped ashlar gatepiers mark the entrance, whilst two sets of ashlar steps lead from the east elevation down to the level of the river bank.