Stowell Park

Details

YANWORTH STOWELL PARK SP 01 SE 7/102 Stowell Park 23.1.52 GV II* Country house. Built c1600 for Robert Atkinson, Recorder of Oxford, on site of an earlier house, enlarged for the Earl of Eldon by Sir John Belcher 1886-98, ballroom added 1913. North and west fronts of main body and ballroom, ashlar, other walls limestone rubble. C17-early C18 wing coursed roughly squared limestone. Late C19 apartments and entrance dressed random limestone, partly converted barn adjoining ballroom, coursed squared and dressed limestone. Stone slate roof, ashlar stacks. Complex plan comprising 'L'-shaped Elizabethan main body. Former entrance front on west with C19 summerhouse attached at north-west corner, similar summerhouse, now reduced in size, formerly at south-west corner. Late C19 extension and present entrance (by Belcher) at south-east corner of main body. Three-sided courtyard formed by left-hand return of Elizabethan range, early C20 ballroom opposite linked to the former via passage. Partly converted barn at far gable end of ballroom. Possibly late C17-early C18 extension at gable end of left-hand return of Elizabethan range (extended by one bay C19). C19 dairy and further C19 range at right angles at rear. West front (Elizabethan entrance front); 2 storeys and attic lit by 3 roof dormers (largely obscured by battlemented parapet). 2:3:2 bays, the outer bays break forwards slightly. All stone-mullioned cross windows with double-ridged mouldings and moulded hoods on consoles. Windows in west front possibly replaced C19. Rectangular leaded panes to casements. Central C20 part-glazed double door within round-headed surround with C20 fanlight. Renaissance entablature on short Ionic pilasters at impost level. Atkinson coat of arms in tympanum of pediment. Single storey, single bay summerhouse projects forwards left. Single stone- mullioned cross window at front. Double, glazed door with leaded panes at centre of right-hand return within round-headed surround, paired Roman Doric pilasters either side of doorway, tall single rectangular windows with leaded panes and further pilasters either side. North front of Elizabethan range; 5 bays, the outer bays with 2-storey bay windows with Doric parapets and 3 ball finials. Cross windows as in west front. Ballroom facing north front with side and diagonal buttresses with offsets and large carved scrolls at height of battlemented parapet. C17-early C18 wing; 2½ storeys with roof dormers at rear and single gable with 2-light casement adjoining north front of Elizabethan main body. Two cross-shaped slits below gable. Range otherwise lit by stone-mullioned cross windows and 2-light stone-mullioned casements. Single storey, buttressed late C19 dairy with louvred octagonal roof with finial at apex. Late C19 extension and entrance with octagonal corner turret with cupola, decorative string gargoyles -below battlemented parapet. Open-sided Renaissance style porch with battlemented parapet with semi-circular merlons, round-headed arch with paired fluted Roman Doric columns either side. Gothic vault with carved stone bosses within inner porch. Single light, 2 and 3-light stone-mullioned casements some with transoms. Continuous hood over first floor windows incorporating beast's head gargoyles. Parapet, mostly battlemented. Some C17 lead rainwater heads and downpipes to Elizabethan range. Axial and gable end stacks. Interior not accessible but according to Verey the windows of the late C19 entrance hall contain C19 armorial stained glass showing . the coats of arms of the families connected with the house, including Martell c1100, Tame 1520, Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, c1640, and Howe; Lord Chedworth, c1722. The inner hall contains a C19 carved stone fireplace with the arms of Howe of Stowell, the Earl of Eldon, and Lord Vestey, added in 1923. In the Elizabethan part of the house, the drawing room is reputed to have panelling of c1600 with an arcaded dado carved with cherubs on the 'keystones' and two tiers of Doric and Ionic pilasters. At least two 'Tudor'- arched stone doorways. Most of the interior was however altered by Sir John Belcher 1886-98. (David Verey, The Buildings of England; The Cotswolds, 1979)

Listing NGR: SP0870413048

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

130098

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Verey, D, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire 1 The Cotswolds, (1970)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 16 Gloucestershire,

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