Ashton Court Mansion and Stables, Long Ashton, North Somerset

Description

ST 57 SE LONG ASHTON ASHTON PARK

5/89 Ashton Court Mansion and Stables
13.10.52
G.V. I

Country house, now used for public purposes. C15; altered and extended c.1635
(the south-west wing); late C18 and early C19 remodelling and alteration of
c.1885. Rendered with freestone dressings; slate roofs with coped verges;
coped parapets with moulded eaves cornice. 2 storeys and attics. The South-
West Facing Elevation consists of projecting wings to the north and south and a
recessed centre. In the centre is the core of the mediaeval building: three
4- and 2-light windows with cusped ogee heads, under square hood moulds on the
ground floor and with 4-centred heads above (all early C19, restored); attics in
2 steep gables with finials; central porch tower of ashlar with an embattled
parapet; a later single-storey porch projects, with panelled gothick pilasters,
and an embattled parapet with pinnacles, pointed arch doorway with carved
spandrels. To the left is an advanced 2 storey, 2 bay section (it obscures
another bay of the core, one gable of which can be seen): one 4-light
Perpendicular style window and other 3-light cross windows with moulded mullions
and surrounds. The north (library or billiard-room) wing was remodelled c.1805:
3 bays; ashlar on the ground floor with 4-light windows as the centre; rendered
on the second floor with 2-light windows, string courses between each floor; two
gables with blocked bullseye windows and surmounted by paired circular chimneys
with moulded cornice and caps; at the left end is a polygonal ashlar turret with
an embattled parapet; on the gable end is a 2 storey canted bay which is Gothick
glazing bar sash windows with ogee heads and in moulded and panelled ogee-headed
architraves; the north side of the wing has 3 Gothick glazing bar sash windows
under ogee heads. The south range matches the north wing but is 4 bays and
without the bay window on the gable end: South-East Facing Elevation. Central
3 stage and attic gatehouse: late mediaeval but extensively remodelled,
especially in the C19; ashlar; flanking polygonal stair turrets with plain
parapets and single and 2-light windows with trefoil heads; panelled doorcase
with arcaded frieze and panelled and traceried door; 4-light window on second
stage, 3-lights on third under an arched string course; stepped gable and central
clock. To the left is the rendered classical wing of c.1635: 5:3:2:3 bays of
large pane sash windows under alternating triangular and segmental pediments on
the ground floors and cornices on brackets on the first floor; 2:5:2 bullseye
windows to the attic storey and a fretwork frieze with ball finials on the
pedestals; the basement has 3 paired shell-headed niches and 2 oval panels.
To the right is the 7 bay, ashlar, music room wing: 4-light cross windows on
ground floor, 3- and 5-light windows on first floor, all with cinquefoil heads
and under square hoodmoulds; buttresses between the bays; embattled parapet
with pinnacles. The Stables Wing faces north-east: ashlar; 2 storeys; 3:3:3
bays with an embattled central parapet and plain side parapets; polygonal turrets
flank the centre, lancet and cross-loop.windows; central 4-centre headed doorway
and blocked 4-centre headed coach-entries to each side (now with inserted 3-light
cusped windows); the outer bays have a similar doorway with flanking 3-light
cusped windows, circular pitching eyes to centre of first floor. Interior.
Inner Porch has a Vaulted ceiling, Great Hall: blocked 4-centre headed doorway
to north-east in a moulded surround; 2 large 4-centre headed, moulded archways
to south-east and west, the latter leads to the dog-leg staircase which has a
closed string, twisted Ionic balusters and a cornice and handrail with classical
moulding; elaborate gothic fireplace with panelled piers and embattled top,
moulded surround, gabled overmantel with a decorative tympanum, gothic style iron
grate. Refectory or kitchen: 3 bay arch-braced collar beam roof with 3 tiers of
windbracing (restored). Library or-billiard rooms in a Gothick style; arcaded
walls with ogee heads, finials and pendants; elaborate cornice and ceiling with
a panelled centre surrounded by 8 drawn-out ogee panels; Corinthian columned
marble fireplace; china cupboards with gothick glazing. Inner Hall: bolection
moulded fire surround with a reset datestone of 1691. Drawing Room (Long
Gallery): large bolection moulded fire-surround with Ionic columns (remains of
C17 frieze survive in another room); on the first floor is an elaborate marble
fireplace with Corinthian pilasters, a plain frieze, and a central open pediment
with carved embellishments of fruit and flanked by half swan-necked pediments.
Large and small Panelled Rooms: raised and fielded panels with raised borders;
bolection moulded fireplaces under pulvinated friezes; panelled doors in
shouldered architraves. Vaulted Hall: fan vaulted roof with a cylindrical
central pier. Music Room: coffered ceiling; linenfold panelled walls; two
ashlar fireplaces with moulded 4-centred arches and large hoods supported on
twisted and panelled piers; central segmental headed niche. Stables: the
southern part has elaborate cast iron gothic style loose boxes with panelled sides.
(N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England : North Somerset and Bristol, 1958).

Listing NGR: ST5570971837

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

Ashton Court Mansion and Stables

A Grade I Listed Building in Long Ashton, North Somerset

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Description

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