Survey Data
Reg No
41400929
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Previous Name
Drumreask
Original Use
Country house
Date
1835 - 1845
Coordinates
264024, 335304
Date Recorded
24/05/2012
Date Updated
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Description
Detached six-bay two-storey county house, built c.1840, having gabled porch to front and slightly projecting gable-fronted bay to each end of front (south-east) elevation, and gabled projections to rear. Pitched slate roof, with decorative timber bargeboards, valences and finials, and having terracotta ridge tiles. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Red brick and rendered chimneystacks, having diamond-plan multiple flues, and clay chimneypots. Half-dormer windows to front with gables over having decorative timber bargeboards with finials. Harl-rendered walls, with red brick and coursed rubble sandstone visible in areas. Square-headed window openings to front, with chamfered rendered surrounds. Render label-mouldings to first floor to end bays and to ground floor. Canted-bay window to front, having tooled stone risers, sills and chamfered mullions. Box-bay windows to ground floor of end bays to front, with smooth rendered walls, square-headed openings with chamfered surrounds, and render label-mouldings. Canted oriel window to south-west elevation with chamfered render surrounds and sills, with later box-bay window below. Square-headed window openings to rear and north-east elevation, with render sills. Windows boarded-up throughout. Porch to front has rendered walls with chamfered corners, Tudor-arch opening having moulded render surround, double-leaf timber panelled door and boarded-up over-light, with decorative timber bargeboards and finial. Square-headed boarded-up doorway to north-east elevation, having flat concrete canopy supported on cast-iron cylindrical columns. Square-headed door openings to rear, boarded-up, some having timber fittings.
Appraisal
This country house was constructed, with some guidance from William Walker, for Henry Mitchell. It has a well-proportioned front elevation exhibiting a subtle symmetry, enhanced by its gable-fronted end-bays. This is enlivened, and challenged, by the off-centre doorway, which draws the eye. Decorative timber detailing to the roof provides further visual interest, bringing a dramatic aspect to this substantial house. The site retains notable demesne-related features, including the walled garden and some outbuildings to the rear, and although it is now derelict, it remains a significant and imposing feature in the landscape.