Pownall Hall (School)

Pownall Hall is a formerly grand private house, now a school, built around 1833 for James Pownall. It underwent major internal and some external alterations between 1886 and 1890, supervised by architect William Ball for Henry Boddington, with some further 20th-century changes.

The building is constructed in ashlar pink sandstone to the front elevation, with cream brick to the sides and rear. It has a red tile roof and two stone chimneys with octagonal stacks. The design is a 2-storey building with a symmetrical 7-bay front in the proportion 1:2:1:2:1, topped by a castellated parapet.

The end bays feature octagonal buttresses, with ornate Gothick sash windows decorated with carved heraldic panels between them. The central five bays are taller and have angle buttresses at their ends. Windows throughout have 15-pane sashes below and 12-pane sashes above, both with hood moulds. The lower windows above the sashes feature ogee heads with carved heraldry in the spandrels. A projecting buttressed and castellated porch has a similar ogee head over an oak board door with remarkable Art Nouveau furniture and much carving of pedigrees and heraldry inside. The porch has a 12-pane sash above and displays the arms of Richard Pownall in a triangular pediment. Four tile-hung dormers sit behind the castellations.

The interior is exceptionally sumptuous, with work executed by the Century Guild and to a lesser extent Morris and Company, though some original furnishings have been lost. Most rooms feature a De Morgan tiled fireplace and stained glass panels by Shrigley and Hunt, with furniture and fittings designed by Mackmurdo.

The Entrance Hall is designed as a late medieval great hall with heavy panelled ceiling, one beam carved with the names of the patron, architect and local craftsmen. A stone fireplace is carved with personifications of the Norse days of the week and has a pair of brass gas lamps and reflectors. Fine stained glass panels depict the signs of the zodiac. An oak well staircase with two rails and no balusters formerly had a deep alcove at mezzanine level with a large window showing the four winds, now blocked off from the hall by an overmantel; the window lights the backstairs.

The Dining Room to the left of the hall contains a large fireplace with its mantelshelf carried on a large pair of gilded atlantes by Benjamin Creswick and a central painted panel by Selwyn Image. The room features typical Mackmurdo woodwork and firegrate. The frieze displays packs of dogs' heads on top with running swags of thistles above. The ceiling has a central elliptical panel with a border of apples. Glass depicts the months of the year in the manner of Books of Hours. Finely chased brass door furniture completes the room.

The Drawing Room to the right of the hall has walnut doors, rails and fireplace with pale marquetry detailing and similar door furniture. The overmantel features a pair of triple, typical Mackmurdo slender columns with Art Nouveau capitals. Glass shows heads of Roman deities.

The Library at the rear of the hall has fitted bookcases, desks and seating. An Art Nouveau carved overmantel displays painted plaster panels of the seven ages of man and a tableau from "As You Like It" by J D Watson. A glass panel depicts Chaucer and Dante.

The bedrooms are individually carved, with the Fytton bedroom being the finest. This features exposed timber framing above a panelled dado divided into separate sleeping, dressing and sitting areas, with Art Nouveau details to a screen in front of the fireplace and two fitted wardrobes. De Pownale is the main bedroom with somewhat denuded glass panels showing angels, a keyhole bath and shower with De Morgan tiles. Bollyn has an inscribed hood over the bed, and Dovecote has glass panels showing an owl awakening and sleeping.

The Day Nursery is open to the roof with exposed trusses and walls with fluted pilasters and a mural over the fireplace. Window seats have finely carved panels and bench ends. At one end is a music gallery above the schoolroom.

This is a remarkable interior, though somewhat depleted, that developed over ten years with the Century Guild providing many details and fittings from 1886 onwards. The house is full of inscriptions establishing Henry Boddington's ownership of Pownall Hall.