Hartford Hall

Hartford Hall

Country house built around 1807 by William Stokoe for William Burdon, altered around 1875 for Augustus Edward Burdon, and subdivided into apartments between 2000 and 2004.

The main building is constructed of tooled ashlar with service wings of tooled-and-margined stone. The roof is covered in Lakeland slate except for a lead dome. The house comprises a rectangular main block with service wings flanking an eastern yard.

The north front, which serves as the entrance, has three storeys and displays a composition of 2+2+2 bays. It features a plinth, first-floor band, and a second-floor moulded cornice with sill bands to the lower floors. A pedimented projecting centre contains an 1875 porch and porte-cochere with grouped piers at the angles. The porch has panelled double doors with an oversight window and three bay returns with pilasters and plate-glass sash windows. The main elevation has similar windows throughout, with those to the lower floors topped by cornices on moulded brackets. The eaves cornice is moulded and the blocking course features heavy gadrooned vases at the angles.

To the left is a projecting flat-roofed two-storey link connecting to a two-storey kitchen wing of five bays, with twelve-pane sashes below six-pane casements set in flat-topped half dormers. A single-storey three-bay section with renewed sashes extends further left. The south front displays similar fenestration and detailing, but the centre of the main block features a full-height three-window bow with a central French window in an architrave and a dome of around 1875, with all windows curved in plan. Some ground-floor windows retain external blind cases.

To the left stands a late 19th-century single-storey four-bay games room extension. To the right, a set-back two-storey service wing comprises two four-bay sections; the left part has a ground-floor sill band and eaves cornice, while the plainer right section, positioned further back, displays a re-set sundial dated 1773. Attached to the rear of this wing is a meat store with openwork ornamental panels, rounded corners, and a flat roof.

The interior is largely of 1875 date. The house retains most of its original doors and window shutters throughout. The entrance hall and corridors feature parquet flooring and an open-well closed-string stair with turned balusters. Rich plaster cornices decorate the spaces, and a painted ceiling appears in the lounge. Late 19th-century stained and painted glass fills the porch (depicting the four seasons, the elements and other subjects) and the stair.

The former drawing room features an ornate plaster ceiling with a shallow dome, ornate frieze and cornice, and original painted decoration. The former library retains fitted mahogany bookcases with glazed doors, fitted mahogany bookshelves, a mahogany fire surround and overmantle with mirror. The former dining room contains Ionic columns, panelling, and an 18th-century style fireplace. Service rooms and bedrooms preserve additional features including one original bath. The cellars are fitted with segmental vaults, wine bins dated 1830, and display thirteen different types of mason's mark.

William Burdon, the original patron, was a noted liberal philosopher and author. Augustus Edward Burdon, for whom the 1875 alterations were undertaken, was a high-ranking freemason (commemorated by a memorial window in St. Cuthbert's Church, Bedlington).

A mid-20th-century brick link range between the east end of the service wing and the stable block is not of special interest.