Delves Hall

Delves Hall is a late 14th-century tower house, located within Doddington Park, Doddington. It was originally built for John Delves or Sir John Delves. The building is constructed of red sandstone ashlar with a slate roof and has a square plan with corner turrets arranged over three storeys.

The front elevation features an ashlar Jacobean Imperial staircase that was salvaged from an earlier house when a new hall was built between 1777 and 1790. It was subsequently re-applied to the tower. The staircase has a central lower flight with balustrades of pierced ashlar strapwork in the form of enriched quatrefoils. A crude Ionic column supports a naked female figure above the half landing. Rusticated pilasters flank the undercroft of the lateral flights, supporting large statues representing the Black Prince, Audley, and his four squires, all in armour and standing on semi-circular plinths decorated with strapwork. A pointed doorway is located on the first floor, with an ogee hoodmould featuring figurehead label stops. A string course runs between the ground and first floors, and the top of the building is defined by a battle-mented parapet, with matching corner turrets. A shallow pointed archway on the right-hand side originally connected the house to a later extension, now containing a recessed 19th-century two-light window. The first floor has three lancet windows, with a two-light window on the second floor, featuring cusped lights and a lancet to the right. To the left of the building on the first floor is a 19th-century two-light window with Y-tracery, and the second floor has a two-light window with cusped lights. The rear elevation has a two-light first-floor window with Y-tracery and a transom, and a two-light window to the second floor with cusped lights.

Internally, the ground floor contains a tunnel-vaulted room, with a blocked staircase to the right of the southern window. The first floor has a similar arrangement incorporating a stairway. A cast iron stove with a hob grate, dating from the late 18th or early 19th century, is situated on the northern wall, alongside a fireback dated 1663/TP. The second floor has been removed. In the early/mid 17th century, the tower was incorporated into a larger Jacobean house, which was later demolished after the completion of the new hall. The Imperial staircase, formerly a centrepiece of the Jacobean house, was then re-applied to the tower.