Listed Building record MDR820 - The Mansion, Church Street, Ashbourne

The Mansion, including the adjacent coach house wall is a Grade I listed building constructed in circa 1685 although the façade, the Music Room and various interior features date from circa 1765 to 1784. It is built of red brick, with bands at 1st and 2nd floor sill height and is three storeys high, with three bays. In the 18th century The Mansion was the home of Dr Taylor. He was a friend of Dr Johnson, who frequently stayed here between 1737 and 1784. (1) The Mansion House is a good example of a Georgian re-fronting of an earlier building, with the earliest part being late 17th century. It was a substantial house built by Benjamin Taylor I about 1683-84 and is said to have replaced an earlier dwelling occupied by the priest who served the chantry of the Holy Cross in St Oswald's Church. The house was handed down through the Taylor family and inherited by John Taylor in 1731. He became a Doctor of Laws in 1752 and was thereafter referred to as Dr Taylor. In 1762 he employed the Derby architect Joseph Pickford to remodel the house. The works included re-fronting the roadside elevation, the construction of a screen wall with blind arcade to the east of the house, and the construction of an octagonal music room between the two outer wings of the old house. On the death of Dr Taylor in 1788 the estate passed to William Brunt alias Webster and was sold to the Dale family in 1843, after which it was sold to a succession of different owners, including the County Council in 1950, when it was used to provide accommodation for girl boarders at the school. It was sold again in 1993. (3)