Rode Hall

Rode Hall is a substantial country house of multiple periods, built for the Wilbraham family over more than a century of development. The property begins with a seven-bay house with stable block constructed around 1700 for Randle Wilbraham, which now forms the service wing and replaced an earlier timber-framed structure. A large addition was made in 1752 for Randle Wilbraham II, attributed to the Hiorne brothers. In 1799, Randle Wilbraham III employed John Hope to add bow windows to the western and eastern sides, lower the existing windows, render the house entirely, and reorient the entrance to the western front. In 1808, Lewis Wyatt was engaged to design the dining room. Most recently, in 1926, Darcy Bradell stripped off the render, altered the western end of the hall, added the present portico, and rebuilt the first-floor balconies.

The house is built in red Flemish bond brick with ashlar dressings and a slate roof with lead dressings, and is of two and three storeys throughout.

The entrance front comprises the circa 1700 service wing, slightly recessed to the right, with seven symmetrically disposed bays flanked by projecting bays. The corners feature ashlar quoins at ground-floor level and a stone string-course runs between floors. The central doorway has plain ashlar pilaster pieces to the sides and a round-arched doorhead with alternately projecting voussoirs. The door itself has four flush panels with a fanlight above. Either side of the doorway are cross-windows with stone sills and flat-arched heads of gauged brick with central keystones. Five similar windows occupy the first floor, the central one distinguished by an ogee moulding to the lower edge of the head. The projecting lateral wings feature Venetian windows at ground-floor level with arched central lights that project through the string-course, and oeil-de-boeuf windows with ashlar surrounds above. A hipped roof crowns this section, with a central octagonal bellcote featuring a round-arched arcade, a lead ogee dome, and a golden acorn finial. Lateral chimney-stacks flank the roof.

To the left stands the 1752 house, comprising five bays plus a further bay at right (probably added around 1800) connecting the new and old sections, with four symmetrically disposed bays to the left. At first-floor level are two windows with rugged ashlar surrounds and projecting keystones, each of 2 × 4 sash panes. Two attic windows with 3 × 2 panes sit above. At ground floor is the Darcy Bradell portico entrance, which features four Ionic columns with pilaster responds to the rear, a plain frieze to the entablature, and a flat roof. To the rear are central glazed doors with a fanlight and lateral windows of 5 × 6 panes. Either side of this central arrangement are portions of brick walling with rectangular ashlar panels carved in relief with coats of arms and swags of drapery, and rainwater heads both dated 1927. Flanking the central arrangement are projecting bow windows that replaced former square bay windows, each incorporating three bays of which the lateral bays have been blocked. The ground floor has tripartite windows to the central bays with moulded surrounds. The first floor features French windows opening onto balconies with cast iron railings (replacements of 1927), whilst the second floor has sash windows of 4 × 2 panes. Both front sections have hipped roofs with lead flashings; the earlier portion at right has square chimney stacks of four flues to either side of centre, and the later portion has rectangular stacks to either side of the two central bays and at far right.

The left-hand side of the house displays five symmetrically disposed bays with an ashlar plinth and quoins to the corners at ground-floor level. A central portico features paired Roman Doric columns to either side with pilaster responds, a Doric frieze above, and a flat roof. Ground-floor windows of 3 × 5 panes with flat-arched heads flank the portico, all appearing to have been lowered around 1800. A stone band between floors supports first-floor windows of 3 × 4 sash panes, also lowered by cutting through an upper band where they previously rested. Five second-floor windows of 3 × 2 sash panes sit beneath an ashlar cornice and parapet. Chimney stacks stand to either side of centre.

The rear elevation comprises four bays at the left and a bow to the right with one central window of 3 × 5 panes, a blocked first-floor window, and a second-floor window of 4 × 2 sash panes. The four left-hand bays are of two builds: at right are brick flat-arched heads with 3 × 5 panes at ground floor, 3 × 4 panes at first floor, and 3 × 2 panes at second floor. At ground floor to the far left is an ashlar door surround, designed by Wyatt, with pilaster strips to either side and an ashlar wedge-lintel above.

The interior contains several rooms of exceptional quality. The entrance hall features two screens of two painted wooden Tuscan columns with panelled pilasters in antis at each end, a coved ceiling, and a chimneypiece of grey granite. The dining room, designed by Lewis Wyatt, displays a coved ceiling, a segmental niche at one end to accommodate a sideboard, and a richly modelled ceiling with gilded vines in high relief. Two screens of scagliola columns with Ionic capitals and dosserets stand against the walls, and a black marble chimneypiece with bronze ornaments occupies the far wall. Large-scale egg-and-dart moulding ornaments the cornice, with bands of guilloche ornament running between the columns. The staircase hall features dado panelling and a staircase of three flights with a ramped handrail with wreathed curtail, fluted balusters with acanthus bowls, and a moulded string. Lugged and shouldered picture surrounds adorn the walls, whilst the ceiling displays Rococo plasterwork including an eagle below the landing. The northern garden front contains a central octagonal anteroom flanked by the library and drawing room. The library features fitted mahogany bookcases with an early 19th-century small-scale acanthus frieze, and the drawing room contains a white marble chimneypiece with shields bearing trophies of arms.