Description

BIBURY ABLINGTON
SP 1007-1107
10/39 Ablington Manor
23.1.52
GV I
Large manor house. Dated 1590 for John Coxwell; early-mid C17
additions; c1780 alterations and additions. Late C19 and early
C20 internal alterations. Rubble limestone with early roughcast
render having yellow ochre colour wash; ashlar dressings; ashlar
chimneys; stone slate roof. Two-storey with attic and cellar;
additions to original 3-room plan result in central stair hall
plan. North front: asymmetrical with 3 parapet gables. Mixed
fenestration, mullioned and transomed ovolo moulded cross windows
to ground floor; central 3-light to upper floor, outer 4-light
wide mullioned and transomed. Two-light recessed cavetto
mullioned casements to attic, all casements having hoodmoulds.
Two-storey parapet gabled porch between central and left gables has
diagonal offset buttresses to ashlar front. Doric entablature
with fluted pilasters to 4-centred archway has 5 stylised heads,
one in each metope, central representing Queen Elizabeth with Mary
to left and Henry VIII to right; outer heads being Philip of Spain
and James I. Recessed moulded opening above has raised lettering:
'PLEAD . THO / V . MY . CAVSE / O . LORD . BY / IHON . COX / WEL .
ANO / DOMENY / 1590'. Two projecting roundels flank inscription
panel. Three-light recessed cavetto mullioned casement above set
between 2 moulded string courses. Roll moulded parapet with 3
crocketed finials. Porch contains seats and bolection moulded
doorway with plank and coverstrip door. Projecting chimney stack
between central and right gables with tall ashlar shaft and moulded
cap. Gabled service wing to left has small circular domed cupola.
South front: 3 gables as to north front, central being early C20
alteration from c1780 pediment. Original 2-light recessed
chamfered mullioned casements with hoodmoulds to attic;
fenestration below is c1780 openings altered from sashes to
casements early C20, tall central stair window loosing a pediment
in these alterations. Three windows to upper floor; central
doorway with moulded architraves and pediment to ground floor
flanked by 2 casements below each outer gable, all casements having
beaded architraves and hoodmoulds. Four 2-light mullioned
casements in cellar plinth. Lower parapet gabled early C20
rebuilt addition to right, part beyond gable having shaped parapet.
Ends: 2 parapet gables to each end, east having 3 chimneys, each
with moulded cap. Interior: many C20 alterations. Dining room
in south east wing has complete panelling, probably early C17, and
Jacobean style plasterwork ceiling. Bolection moulded doorway to
service passage formerly was the external doorway on south side.
Stair hall results from c1780 alterations with open well staircase
and 2-light mullioned window opening in former external wall.
Originally house was in form of 3-room range to which, in early-mid
C17, 2 south wings were added forming a small courtyard. One of
the wings obscured the south end of the original cross passage
(doorway still in position). Circa 1780 infilling of courtyard
completed the southern half of the house. Was home of J. Arthur
Gibbs, author of A Cotswold Village, one of the first books to
popularise the Cotswolds in the late C19 and early C20. Small
formal garden to south contains sundial (q.v.).
(A.D., article in Country Life, 7th September 1912; A.R.J. Jurica,
'Bibury' in V.C.H. Glos. vii, pp. 21-44; and D. Verey,
Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, 1979.)

Listing NGR: SP1035907607

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Ablington Manor at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17525786

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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