The Old Hall

THE OLD HALL

A house of early 17th-century origin with late 17th-century additions, built in red and orange English garden wall bond brick with a stone slate roof. The building comprises two storeys with an attic and basement.

The north-west front is divided into two distinct portions. The left-hand section, dating from around 1612, presents four bays with 2-light windows having stone mullions and surrounds. The first floor contains four similar but shorter windows, all with leaded panes. A central shallow-pitched gable with stone dressings marks the division between old and new work. The right-hand section, dating from around 1676 and slightly projecting forward, stands on a stone base and features a prominent 2-storey semi-octagonal angled bay window with mullioned and transomed windows of 4 lights to the centre and 2 lights to each angled face. At basement level are 2-light mullioned windows to the angles. The right-hand side carries a 4-light mullioned and transomed window with a similar example above and a 3-light mullioned window to the basement. String courses run above the ground and first floor windows. An armigerous lead rainwater head and downpipe are notable features. Three 19th-century ridge chimneys crown the roof.

The south-west front presents a gable end, probably rebuilt in the early 18th century. This front is arranged symmetrically in three bays with a central front door framed by a stone four-centred arch. The door itself is 19th-century with six raised and fielded panels. A 2-light mullioned and transomed window with a cambered head and keystone occupies the first floor centre. Windows on both floors have been bricked in but retain stone cills, cambered heads, and keystones; a circular recess in the gable surrounds a small 2-light window. Stone cappings and a ball finial crown the gable, with stone quoins to the corners.

The rear facade displays considerable complexity. The left portion features a segment-headed 2-light casement with a mezzanine sash-window to a staircase landing containing 4 by 5 panes. Armorial decoration appears on the lead rainwater head, with decorated brackets to the downpipe. A square bay to the right has stone quoins and a 6-light mullioned basement window, above which are 18th-century segment-headed sash windows with stone cills. Stone cappings and ball finials top the bay. A 20th-century abutment occupies the inner angle to the right of this feature. A door with a 17th-century 2-panel door in a stone surround sits to the right, with an immediately adjacent splayed-headed window of 3 by 3 panes and a 4 by 6 pane window to the first floor. A bull's-eye window occupies the space above, both within a recess. Corner stairs occupy the inner angle further right. Additional 2-light windows on the ground and first floors conclude this elevation, with a 19th-century dormer to the attic at the far right. Attached to the rear facade is a wing, possibly originally a detached kitchen, featuring kneelers and coped gables. It has been altered and now contains a 19th-century 2-light casement to the ground floor with a 19th-century sash of 4 by 6 panes above.

Interior features are substantial. The Dining Room contains 17th and 19th-century moulded panelling, a Jacobean fireplace with marquetry panels to the overmantel, and a reed moulded cornice. Similar panelling appears in the ground floor hallway. The study features William and Mary panelling and an angle fireplace. The staircase, dating from around 1750, employs newels formed of four balusters with a deep ramped rail; wall dado panelling echoes this pattern. Five 6-panel doors to the first floor landing are contemporary with the staircase. The first floor drawing room displays bolection-moulded panelling and an angle fireplace. Sawn chamfered ceiling beams run throughout the ground floor rooms.

Archaeological evidence suggests that the late 17th-century portion was originally intended to be larger, as indicated by foundations discovered for a further semi-octagonal window to the south.