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The Lee, Knighton

A Victorian/Edwardian Gothic Revival house with an Arts & Crafts interior.

The Lee, Knighton, LD7 1NE

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The Lee was built and remodelled between 1896 and 1904 for William and Agnes Hathornthwaite. The exterior is a throwback to Gothic Revival, while the interior is predominantly Arts & Crafts.

The gardens include two Messenger greenhouses and water gardens by James Pulham and Sons. The Lee is undergoing a restoration project to return it to its Victorian/Edwardian heyday.

Interior
The porch has a decorative mosaic floor.

The hall has moulded ceilings in a style associated with properties that have gardens designed by James Pulham and Sons. Original chequerboard tiled hearth. Oak fire surround with carved Lancaster rose detail and lion rampant crest.

The drawing room has a fine moulded ceiling (again of a style associated with James Pulham), stained glass windows, and an Arts & Crafts fireplace. The bay window in the base of the turret looks out over Wales to the south and the Shropshire Hills to the north.

The library was added in 1904. Recent work has revealed the original Edwardian panelling and plate rack which has been hidden for decades, along with an unusual air vent with sunflower design. It has an Arts & Crafts oak fireplace.

Exterior:
Cast iron verandah by Walter MacFarlane & Co of Glasgow (Scotland’s most important manufacturer of ornamental ironwork at the time).

There are just over three acres of garden, including extensive water gardens laid out by James Pulham and Sons (who won a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851). The water garden includes rockeries, waterfalls, bridges, ponds, and lake with island. Japanese garden near the house.

The walled garden has two Messenger greenhouses. One of these is a peach house. The other greenhouse has been recently restored after being covered since the 1950s. Both are now in horticultural use again and the current owners have returned the peach house to its original purpose of growing peaches.

The sunken part of the walled garden is currently undergoing restoration to be a reimagining of the parterre that was described in Country Life in 1905.

The terrace has views of the Welsh hills to the south and the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the north.

Does our information need updating?
Let us know here

The Lee, Knighton

The Lee, Knighton

The Lee, Knighton

The Lee, Knighton