BEAUFRONT CASTLE

Country House, 1836-1841 by John Dobson for William Cuthbert, incorporating part of late C17 mansion of the Errington family, on medieval site; minor extensions c.l870 by J.A. Hansom. Tooled-and-margined ashlar with dressings; graduated Lakeland slate roofs. The principal apartments form an irregular “L” plan with lower ranges around attached stable court on the north. Dobson’s “domestic castellated” style, free Perpendicular/Tudor Gothic.

Entrance front to west, 1-3 storeys, in 5 parts. Chamfered plinths, moulded string courses, embattled parapets. Central tower porch has moulded arch, with heraldic hoodmould stops, under tall 3-light window with panelled transom; and armorial panel above. Taller stair turret on left return has loops, top one cruciform, and parapet on corbels. Studded segment-headed double doors with brattished lintel under sunk tympanum with pointed arch. Left 2-storey part: 2 recessed bays and Projecting wing, with various windows mostly 2-light; on far left lower wall with 4 stepped buttresses joins north-west tower of stable court. To right a single-storey 3-bay smoking room by Hansom, with shouldered cross windows and a tall 2-storey, 2-bay block with 2 tall pointed-arched 2-light stair windows. Roofs largely hidden by parapets; several stacks with multiple octagonal shafts and embattled caps, some rising from parapet. HOEG.

South front in 2 sections, with similar detail, Left section 2 storeys, 5 bays; left full-height rectangular bay window, then a canted oriel; at right semi-octagonal buttresses between 3 single-light windows. On right return a full-height canted bay and panelled doors under bracketed segmental hood, 4-bay right section has left 2-storey part, with mullioned windows, and right 3-storey East Tower, reputedly on foundations of medieval towerhouse. 2-storey projecting bay and stair turret, with octagonal top, behind; and squared stone wall of earlier house, refenestrated in Cl9. HOEG.

North elevation shows stable court flanked by low towers, joined by entrance screen (q.v.). Clock tower at rear recess under corbelled lintel, flanked by broad buttresses, and clock face above. C17 classical stone statues, from parapets of older house, re-set on buttresssteps and parapets.HOEG

Interior: Main apartments have panelled ceilings with deep friezes and pendant bosses, and carved chimney pieces. Rib-vaulted entrance lobby and lofty main stair, with glass by Wailes. Billiard Room has lower rib-vaulted cloister on 3 sides behind arcade of moulded 4-centred arches, and roof with hammer beams, and pendant bosses: one of Dobson’s best interiors. Dining Room has mid-Cl8 fireplace with scrolled jambs and fluted frieze. Extensive cellars with cavity walls, an innovation inspired by the Roman bath house at Halton Fort which Dobson measured in 1827. HOEG.

G Jackson-Stops, Country Life Feb 5 1976 286-9, Feb 12 1976 342-5

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