Description

SP 01 NW DOWDESWELL LOWER DOWDESWELL

5/32 Dowdeswell Court GV II

Country house. Built for the Rogers family 1833-4 by Rowland Paul of Cheltenham, and the remains of a C17 outbuilding. House; ashlar, slate roof, stone stacks. Rectangular plan to main body with wings extending forwards right and left of entrance on south, service wing extends away right of right-hand wing. Symmetrical, 2:5:2-windowed, entrance front; 2 storeys with cellars under west side extending southwards under terrace, 1:2:1 windowed service wing on right. 8-pane sashes with marginal glazing bars and moulded, lugged architraves with keystones within and either side of porch to main body. Central first floor window; plate-glass sash with brick keystone and triangular pediment, all other windows 12-pane sashes with aprons. Central, double, fielded 6-panel door within projecting central portico with 8 fluted columns with Corinthian capitals, frieze and moulded cornice. Large Corinthian pilasters at corners of projecting wings and at junction of wings with main body of house. Parapet with moulded cornice. West front; rectangular panels within moulded surrounds and grilles ventilating cellars, set into plinth. Late C19 plate-glass sashes to ground floor. 12-pane sashes to first floor. All windows within moulded, lugged architraves, triangular pediments over central two windows on each floor. North front; small projecting C19 porch off-centre left with round-headed sash windows with marginal glazing bars. Windows mostly plate-glass sashes. Chimneys with moulded cappings and fielded panels. Interior; hall remodelled 1847-1848 by Samuel Omley of Cheltenham, formerly with colonnade of Corinthian columns running across length of hall (2 columns now removed). Ornate cornice. C17 stone fireplace with bolection moulding probably reused from earlier house. Stone staircase with cast iron balustrade and wreathed hand rail. Fireplace copying that in hall, but in wood in room at rear of hall. Ballroom/dining room within left-hand wing, ornate cornice and marble fireplace with bolection moulding. Subsidiary features; stone balustrading forming 2 sides of square at entrance front with access to terrace down steps flanked by small piers with pointed finials on west. Access on south flanked by small piers with moulded cappings formerly with finials. Former C17 outbuilding below south-west corner of square now entered from terrace below house via C19-C20 entrance. Two tall stone-mullioned cross-windows (now blocked) on north with flat-chamfered doorway between. Two 2-light stone-mullioned windows in south wall. Central square pier (now enclosed in concrete). Stone cross vaulting. Square stone-lined trough set into floor. Vaulted stone cellars also entered from same terrace with square stone piers with imposts (possibly C17) rising up to brick cross vaulting, probably C19. Former access to cellars on north front now blocked with 2- light stone-mullioned window inserted. Present house originally had 3 storeys and was built on site of earlier house from which the C17 outbuilding and possibly parts of the cellars remain. (David Verey, The Buildings of England, Gloucestershire; The Cotswolds, 1979.) -

Listing NGR: SP0015219797

External Links

• Wikidata Q26590793

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Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2