Country house, now an hotel. 1862. Additions 1869, 1897, 1980. By. S. S. Teulon for the 10th Duke of St. Albans. Figure carvings by Thomas Earp. Gothic Revival style. Brick with gabled, hipped and pyramid slate roofs. Ashlar and moulded brick dressings. Polychrome decoration. Elaborate corbelled eaves. Traceried balustrades. Gabled dormers. 3 storeys plus basements, 5 unequal bays. Irregular facades. C-plan. 3 gable, 5 ridge and 6 side wall stacks. Windows are plain sashes and lancets of various types. Coped gables mostly with finials. Main west front has off-centre tower porch with pierced flanking buttresses with finials. Moulded pointed door with flanking shafts. To its left, double lancet. Beyond, to left, link, single storey, with gabled glazed roof and slate verges. To west, Diocletian window with hipped hood. To right, flat roofed bay window and beyond, lean-to corridor with 3 lancets. To right again, octagonal corner tower, 1897, 4 stages, with pyramidal roof and irregular small lancets. Above, porch has canted balustraded oriel on vaulted bracket with band of carved masks. Flanked by single double lancets. Beyond to right, a double lancet. Above again, porch has canted flat roofed bay window with 3 lancets, each with inscribed panel referring to Royal visit, 1878. To right, pinnacled gabled dormer and beyond, gable with double lancet. Above again, tower has single lancet. Pyramidal roof with 4 gabled lucarnes and finial. Chapel and service range, to north, has crow stepped west gable and bell turret with spire. Double lancet, and above, 3 smaller lancets. To its right, lower buttressed range, 3 bays, with 9 small lancets. To right again, square tower, with stepped stair lights and above, 3 small lancets each side. To its left, late C20 porch. Above, 4 sashes. Above again, to right, 2 large dormers. West gable has quadruple lancet with transom bearing heraldic panels. North side has to left, square corner tower and adjoining gabled game larder. To its right off-centre 2 storey wing with hipped roof. To right, buttressed chapel range. Above, to left, 5 light mullioned and transomed casement. To its right, 9 unequally spaced sashes. Above again, 7 sashes. To its right, external stack with dates, one inscribed 'This house was commenced AD 1862 by William Amelius Aubrey De Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St. Albans, on the site of a Hunting Lodge of King Edward IIIrd. and was completed AD 1865. Samuel Saunders Teulon, Architect. James Burford, Clerk of Works'. To its right, double lancet. Above again, crow stepped gable, flanked by 2 dormers. Courtyard south side has to left, buttressed drill hall, late C19, 5 bays, with timber framed first floor and dormers. South side has 5 mullioned casements. East end has figure carved panel above central Tudor arched door. Orangery, to right, late C19, has full width balustraded addition, 1980. Crow stepped west gable has canted bay window. South side has 7 C20 casements. House south side has irregular Gothic fenestration. To left, lean-to porch, and above to its right, large triple lancet stair window. To right, square bay window with a triple lancet on each floor. To its right, half round hipped turret with 3 lancets on each floor. To right again, corner tower with 4 lancets on each floor and second floor with gabled lancet. Irregular gabled east front has to left, wing with balustraded hay window with 4 sashes. To its right, balustraded stair turret with 2 tiers of stepped lancets. To right again, projecting bay with a triple lancet on each floor. To right again, square corner tower. Above, irregular fenestration with sashes, lancets and mullioned casements. Above again, gables and dormers with lancets. Tower to right has niche with full size figure. Vaulted porch and entrance hall have moulded doorways with shafts and carved tympani. Square central hall has oak panelling, early C20. North side has central Gothic fireplace with single flanking niches containing heraldic animals. East side has 3 bay arcade with ringed marble piers and moulded arches with hood moulds. West aide has central niche containing relief of Robin Hood. Above, south, east and west sides have panelled gallery with foliate iron balustrade. South side has arch brackets on corbels. East and west sides have 3 bay arcades with marble piers and hood moulds. Above again, ceiling carried on traceried arch brackets and corbels. Octagonal lantern with traceried panelled drum, and octagonal pendent. Wrought iron hanging lamp. Gold Room has to south a half round bay with pointed arch carried on freestanding. pier. Panelled matchboarded ceiling painted with rosettes. Orangery has iron rib vault. Other principal rooms have pierced cornices and matchboard ceilings. Stone cantilevered dogleg main stair has wrought iron balustrade and square iron newels. Outside, to east and to south, rockfaced ashlar terrace wall, L-plan, approx. 60M long. East side has central double stairs with curved brick flanking walls. This building is an outstandingly complete major work of S. S. Teulon. (NCC/js)