Shenstone House and Associated Stable, Pig Sty and Cart Shed

Reasons for Designation

This early C19 suburban house is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Intactness: The building largely retains its original plan and it contains numerous early internal features
* Date: It is a substantially intact example of a building dating to before 1840
* Interest: It is thought to have originated as an early C19 Lancaster merchant's suburban house and as such it has similarities with other known examples of this type of building located in satellite villages surrounding Lancaster.

Details

OVER KELLET

81/0/10013 GREEN LEIGH 22-FEB-11 Shenstone House and associated stable, pig sty and cart shed

II A two-storey early C19 suburban house with basement and attics and associated outbuildings, architect unknown, overlooking Over Kellet village green.

MATERIALS: Stone with stone dressings beneath slate roofs.

PLAN: The main house is rectangular in plan with a rear outshot.

EXTERIOR: Shenstone House The front elevation is executed in an understated Georgian style and has a chamfered plinth. It is of dressed stone with three bays and a centrally-placed six-panelled door beneath a narrow rectangular light. The door surround is recessed with a moulded cornice above the lintel. Sash windows have glazing bars with eight over eight panes. Window surrounds have long and short stones to either side and plain sills and lintels. The front elevation has long and short quoins at either end. Both gables are plain and are of snecked stone with gable stacks and kneelers. The rear elevation is part rendered and has an off-centre lower two-storey outshot. On the south side of the outshot there is a rear door to the house with a plain stone surround. Windows and surrounds are similar to the front elevation but the ground floor window is of ten over ten. There is a chimney stack at the junction of the house's rear elevation and outshot. On the north side of the outshot sash windows are of six over six panes with plain stone surrounds. There is a low stone-built garden wall to the front of the house topped by a chamfered stone coping.

The outshot is of a more rustic design than the main house and is of two builds. It is a combination of snecked stone and random rubble with some brick and has been partially rendered. The north elevation has a six panelled door adjacent to which are windows with glazing bars to both floors, with five over four panes to the ground floor window and four over four panes to the upper window. There are plain stone surrounds to door and windows although the larger window has a chamfered sill. There is a small ground floor window at the left end of the north elevation. The south elevation is part-rendered and at its western end it has a long stone lintel at first floor level supported by a thin tall stone upright. There is a small window to the upper floor of the later addition. This addition is carried over a narrow passageway and butts the stable.

Stable The stable's front elevation faces south and consists of four doorways, one of which is blocked, a small window to the ground floor and a threshing door and window to the upper floor. There are narrow ventilation slots to both floors. The gable end has two small windows to the ground floor and an owl hole in the top of the wall. The north elevation has two small windows to the ground floor and a short flight of steps giving access to a door into the upper floor. The stable is roofless.

Pig Sty A two storey building beneath a pitched roof with rear outshot containing an earth closet. The building has been recently modernised and has two former pig sties accessed by doors in the front elevation. There is a small window in the upper floor. Access to the upper floor is via a door at the top of external stone steps on the rear elevation.

Cart shed A recently modernised single-storey former cart shed with a wide rectangular entrance on the north elevation with iron hinges on which former doors hung.

INTERIOR: The ground floor consists of a central hallway with front and rear rooms to either side. The main staircase is located at the rear end of the hallway. The left side of the building contains a back hall leading into the outshot. A former servant's staircase leads up from the back hall. The main open well stair leads to a landing off which there are three front bedrooms, a rear bedroom and a rear bathroom. Outside the bathroom there is a small landing off which is the servant's staircase leading up to the attic. There are two attic rooms, one accessed directly by the servant's staircase, the other accessed via a narrow crawl off the side of this staircase.

Although undergoing modernisation at the time of assessment many early features remain in situ, particularly on the ground floor. These include the nine-panelled front door, six-panelled doors to all rooms with moulded architraves and panelled recesses, moulded deep skirting boards, sash windows with functioning window shutters, moulded coving including a particularly elaborate design to the front right room, panelled cupboard doors, a painted stone fire surround, timber panelling to the servant's staircase and a well-executed timber main staircase with square newel posts, decorative tread ends and hexagonal balusters with square ends. The upper floor too retains many of these features and also includes a stained glass roof light above the stairwell and a cast iron fire surround and hob grate.

The outshot has a former kitchen and pantry on the ground floor with two former bedrooms above. Although largely reroofed it retains some early doors and windows and a cast iron fire surround and hob grate. The outshot's outside WC is located in the ground floor passageway between the outshot and stable.

Stable The stable is derelict but it contains a single-storey internal lean-to within its east end.

Pig Sty The pig sty has been modernised with a concrete floor to the ground floor and new floor timbers to the first floor. The ground floor is used as a woodshed. The upper floor has small three alcoves or open cupboards in the gable wall. The rear earth closet has a double timber seat with one seat latterly covered over.

Cart Shed. The cart shed has been modernised and a concrete floor laid. It is used for storage.

HISTORY: It is thought that Shenstone House may date to 1820-30. It is shown on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1847. The architect is unknown. In the Lancaster district there are some houses located in rural areas that were almost certainly built as country houses for some of the merchants whose town houses were in Lancaster during the period when the port and town prospered because of trading with the West Indies. Shenstone House is thought to be an example of this particular type of house. Outbuildings include a derelict stable, a former pig sty and a former cart shed. During the C19 a later building was added to the rear of the kitchen outshot. This building largely infilled a gap between the house and stable at first floor level but maintained a narrow passageway between the two buildings at ground floor level. The house has remained unchanged for many years but has recently changed ownership and is currently undergoing modernisation.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: This early C19 suburban house is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Intactness: The building largely retains its original plan and it contains numerous early internal features * Date: It is a substantially intact example of a building dating to before 1840 * Interest: It is thought to have originated as an early C19 Lancaster merchant's suburban house and as such it has similarities with other known examples of this type of building located in satellite villages surrounding Lancaster.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

508797

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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