Scolton Manor

Scolton Manor is a country house dating from the 18th century, constructed in a restrained neo-classical style. The exterior is of unpainted stucco, designed to resemble ashlar, with slate hipped roofs and flat, overhanging eaves. Rendered chimney stacks are prominent, with two on the south and east ranges and one on the west.

The five-window south front, which faces the garden, is arranged in a 2-1-2 bay layout, with a recessed centre bay featuring tripartite sash windows – 4-12-4 panes above and plate glass below. The three-window east entrance front also has a recessed centre bay, with a doorway further recessed within a loggia supported by two pairs of Ionic columns and an entablature. The door itself is large and half-glazed, with sidelights and a 1-3-1-pane overlight, set within a frame of thin panelled piers adorned with paterae. The four-window west front features 12-pane sashes on both floors and a basement door positioned under the second window from the left. A utilitarian rear elevation is present, with a hipped, one-window end to the east, with blank windows, and a recessed centre and right side incorporating two gables and a large arched stair light with marginal glazing bars. A gabled north-west service wing with added lean-tos also exists. Outbuildings to the north were demolished in the 1970s.

The interior is arranged around an east end vestibule, leading to a broad hall with a cantilever stone staircase on the north side, and an axial corridor extending beyond. Three main rooms are situated to the south – a south-east drawing-room, a centre library, and a south-west dining-room. The corridor turns into the north-west service wing, which includes a cellar, a servants' staircase to the east, a butler's pantry, a servants' hall, and a kitchen to the west. The first-floor plan mirrors the layout below with a similar axial corridor from a broad landing, and the south front contains three bedrooms separated by two dressing rooms. Six-panel doors and panelled shutters are generally used throughout.

The vestibule and main hall are stone flagged. The staircase hall features a fine cantilevered ashlar staircase with cast-iron balusters rising to a landing on the south and east sides. The drawing-room has a foliage and flower ceiling border, ornate gilded pelmets to match a large mirror on a side table, and a white marble neo-Grecian fireplace. The adjacent library has a similar ceiling border and four inset bookcases. The south-west dining-room contains a lotus-leaf rose in the ceiling and a white marble fireplace with paterae and a fine iron grate. Within the service range, the butler's pantry has large cupboards, the servants' hall has a slate fireplace with paterae, and the kitchen has a very large dresser and a north fireplace with an iron range brought from Poyston Hall. A scullery is located off to the east. Slate steps lead down to extensive cellars containing various vaulted chambers. The servants' staircase has stick balusters and turned newels. First-floor rooms generally have simple reeded ceiling borders and slate fireplaces with panelled jambs and paterae. The stair hall displays a lotus rose and matching iron balusters on two sides of the landing.