Osbaldeston Hall

OSBALDESTON SD 63 SW 4/31 Osbaldeston Hall 27-8-1952 - II* House, probably c.1600 with remains of C16 and earlier, altered 1946. Exact development of house complex. Most of house faced in snecked sandstone rubble dating from 1946 restoration. East and south walls of 'banqueting hall' of brick. Remains of cruck frame and post-and-truss frame inside. Slate roof. 2 storeys. South front has long range known as 'banqueting hall' projecting forwards at left. This has an east wall with a plinth, quoins, and parapet of stone. On the ground floor are 4 2-light double-chamfered mullioned windows with hoods. On the 1st floor are 5 tall windows with plain reveals. The west wall of this range is of sandstone rubble and has 2 projecting bays, now under catslide roofs, with blocked mullioned windows. Between them is a chimney stack projecting on stone corbels, now truncated at eaves level. On the 1st floor the north gable wall has an ovolo-moulded and chamfered mullioned and transomed window now partly blocked. On the south side the recessed central part of the facade is of 3 bays, with mullioned and transomed windows on the ground floor and mullioned ones above, all replaced in 1946. The central bay has a doorway with lintel inscribed: '1946'. At the right is a one-bay cross-wing with double-chamfered mullioned and transomed windows, again C20 replacements. This wing has remains of timber framing visible inside. Its east wall has a projecting chimney stack. Set back to the right is a gabled wing of 1 bay which has a mullioned and transomed ground-floor window on the ground floor and a mullioned one above. This wing is partly cruck-framed inside. Inside, the 'banqueting hall' now has no 1st floor and the tie-beam trusses are visible. These are constructed from timber re-used from a timber-framed building. On the 1st floor the right-hand cross-wing has an elaborate plaster fireplace surround with overmantel, incorporating terms, figures, and a shield with many quarterings. It also has the initials 'EO' and 'MO', attributed to Edward and Maud Osbaldeston, who held the estates 1575-90 (VCH). The walls of this wing show some evidence of timber framing. The trusses visible in the attic have king posts rising from cambered tie beams to a yoke, braced downwards to the tie beam and with queen struts. The purlins are wind-braced. The right-hand wing has 2 cruck trusses visible on the 1st floor and in the attic, one against the southern gable wall. The other truss is partly visible on the ground floor. Both have outriders and a yoke below the apex. The northern truss of the 2 has spurs to wall posts, confirming that the walls of this wing were originally timber framed. The upper parts of both trusses, visible in the attic, appear to have light smoke blackening.

Listing NGR: SD6441134422