My Aunt and Uncle have recently moved to a beautiful little cottage on the outskirts of Snelston village in Derbyshire. Consequently, me being a buildings freak, I did some research on the building's history and came across the reason behind the village - a stunning Gothick-revival mansion known as Snelston Hall.
Unfortunatley, the mansion was demolished in 1951, it is not known by who or why. However, it was commissioned in 1826 and built in 1828 by L. N. Cottingham for the Harrison family. As mentioned, it was built in the neo-Gothic style that swept the country from the 1740s onwards and was built of Sandstone and brick.
The house only exists in ruins now, along with remnants of an ice house, boat house and summer house. These are all Grade II listed. Fortunatley, English Heritage have some absolutely amazing photographs in their archives that were taken in 1949. Obvioulsy, I cannot show you these, but they are in the Public Red Box Room of the NMRC in Swindon if you are interested, the staff are very friendly and would certainly help you out.
The pictures illustrate a building that takes inspiration from religious medieval/tudor architecture, including hood moulds around the windows, crenellations and gothic spires all over the place. I personally think Cottingham took King's College, Cambridge as his starting point, as the external facade of the Great Hall looks remarkably similar, if a little smaller in appearance (seen in the first and last image).
The pictures below have all been taken from Google, but show various external images of the Hall and it's surroundings.
Such a treasure and so upsetting that it has gone forever!
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