Details
SE 71 SE BELTON A 161
(west side, off)
3/6 Hirst Priory
27.9.51
- II
Small country house. Early-mid C18 for Richard Taylor or Jonathan Stovin,
with later C18 alterations for Cornelius Stovin; substantial alterations and
additions of mid C19 for George Lister, including new west wing, remodelling
north and south fronts, new balcony to south. Red brick in Flemish bond,
with tuck pointing to some C19 sections. Stucco and ashlar dressings.
Ashlar south terrace. Westmorland slates to C18 section, Welsh slates to
west wing. C18 section has double-depth plan, altered in C19 to 2-room
south front with entrance hall to north; west wing has double-pile plan with
2-room south front. 2 storeys with basement; attic to earlier section.
Principal south garden front of 8 bays: earlier section of 2:1:2 bays with
central bay breaking forward, and 3-bay wing set back to left, the first 2
bays breaking forward. Basement with ashlar capping forming plinth.
Moulded quoins to angles and advanced bays. Basement: 4- and 6-pane sashes
to earlier section, wing with pair of unequal 9-pane sashes to first 2 bays,
tripartite sash with glazing bars to third bay, all beneath cambered brick
arches. C17-style terrace to ground floor of earlier section carried on
arcades of 3 chamfered and keyed round arches, flanking central stone
staircase with wrought-iron balustrade of alternating panels and plain rails
carrying wreathed handrail; ashlar balustrade to terrace with moulded
plinth, bulbous balusters, panelled square piers and corniced top rail.
Ground floor: earlier section has inserted full-length 8-pane sash to
central bay flanked by pair of similar sashes to left, and tripartite sash
to right with pilasters and consoles flanking central light; wing has pair
of 12-pane sashes to first 2 bays, and similar tripartite sash with
pilasters and consoles to third bay. First floor: ashlar sill band, 4-pane
sashes to earlier section, 12-pane sashes to wing. All sashes slightly
recessed with sills beneath rubbed-brick cambered arches, apart from
tripartite sashes beneath flat arches. Deep moulded ashlar cornice and
blocking course. Earlier section has tall hipped roof with three C19 round-
headed full dormers with 4-pane sashes in scrolled shouldered archivolts;
wing has lower roof hipped to left. Large side wall stack to right with
recessed round-arched panel to side, ashlar cornice and blocking course;
side wall, roof and ridge stacks to earlier section and wing, all with
string courses and cornices; square chimney pots throughout. North entrance
front of 10 irregular bays: earlier section of 2:1:2 bays, and 5-bay wing
set forward to right, with narrow 2-bay section to left and 3-bay section
breaking forward to right. Basement plinth, quoins, first-floor sill band,
12-pane sashes, cornice and blocking course similar to south front. Earlier
section has main central entrance with flight of stone steps to large
doorcase with architrave, panelled pilasters, pulvinated frieze and carved
consoles carrying moulded cornice and hood; half-glazed 2-fold panelled door
beneath moulded lintel and plain overlight in reveal. First-floor sash
above in eared architrave with projecting sill and cornice. Pair of round-
headed dormers to earlier section similar to south front, but with glazing
bars. East and west sides, both of 2 bays, have first-floor sill band,
12-pane sashes to west, 4-pane sashes to east. Interior. Mid C18 - early
C19 details in earlier section include: secondary staircase with ramped
corniced handrail, slender bulb-on-urn balusters with round knops, panelled
newel posts and profiled cheek-pieces; chimney-pieces to first-floor
bedrooms, one with eared architrave, plain frieze and dentilled cornice,
another with panelled pilasters and fluted frieze with garlands and paterae;
chimney-piece to entrance hall with ornate composition frieze and cornice;
moulded cornices to first floor. Mid C19 details include main staircase,
chimney-pieces and cornices to main ground-floor rooms. The house stands in
a partly moated enclosure, on or near the site of an Augustinian cell of
Nostell Priory, founded in the early C12 and dissolved c1540. N Pevsner and
J Harris, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, 1978, p 224; W Read,
History of the Isle of Axholme, 1858, pp 360-2; N Loughlin and K Miller,
A Survey of Archaeological Sites in Humberside, 1979, p 152.
Listing NGR: SE7781710220
