Barlborough Hall

Barlborough Hall is a country house, now a school, built for Sir Francis Rodes, a judge in the Court of Common Pleas and patronized by the Earl of Shrewsbury. The building is dated 1583 on the porch and 1584 on the Great Chamber overmantel, and was probably designed by Robert Smythson.

The hall is constructed of sandstone ashlar and render, with roofs hidden behind battlemented parapets. It has a chamfered plinth and moulded bands linking the heads of all the windows, sometimes stepped up over them. The plan is a compact square with canted and polygonal bays, comprising a basement and two storeys, with the bays rising to an extra storey.

The principal elevation faces south and consists of five symmetrical bays. At the centre is a square projecting porch bay with a flight of balustraded stone steps leading to a doorway with coupled Tuscan Doric columns and pieces of entablature. The doorway itself is four-centred arched with a moulded arch and carved spandrels, with two carved coats of arms above it, one above the other. Above these is a six-light window with two major mullions and two transoms, with a further carved coat of arms above. The recessed bays on either side have a cross window and a three-light mullioned and transomed window to the basement, four-light windows with a major mullion and two transoms on the first floor, and two similar windows on the second floor. The polygonal bays have a two-light window to the basement and three tiers of windows above with 1-2-2-2-1 lights and two transoms, except to the top storey which has one transom.

The north elevation has five bays with three tiers of windows similar to the south. A square projecting central bay has four-light windows with the centre two lights breaking forward to a point, and single lights to the returns. On either side are four-light windows with two transoms and a major mullion.

The east elevation is irregular with four bays, a central canted bay, and a projecting canted porch dated 1825. This porch has a four-centred arched doorway with carved spandrels. To the left of the central bay are five-light and three-light mullioned and transomed windows to the basement, with a six-light window and similar window above, each with a major mullion and two transoms. To the right are a five-light and three-light mullioned and transomed window, above which are a six-light window and four-light window with two transoms, with a similar six-light window above again.

The west elevation has a central canted bay with cross windows and early 19th-century glazing bar sashes, and six-light mullioned and transomed windows to the top floor.

The interior contains significant features across multiple rooms. The chapel, formerly the Great Chamber, has a decorative plaster ceiling and a stone chimneypiece with paired fluted columns and richly carved overmantel, together with 18th-century fluted pilasters and early 19th-century stained glass. The adjoining Music Room has a richly carved wooden chimneypiece with a fire back dated 1616, a plaster overmantel with a coat of arms dated 1697, and 18th-century bolection moulded door surrounds.

The staircase hall at the centre of the house was originally open and contains three-light mullioned and transomed windows, with an open well staircase featuring two heavy turned balusters per tread. 19th-century gothic arches lead to the landing. The entrance hall has an early 19th-century gothic fireplace, doors and shutters, along with one 16th-century four-centred arched doorway. The 19th-century porch contains a gothic rib-vault. The second floor has a corridor along the west side with five moulded four-centred arched stone doorways with 19th-century gothic doors. A timber spiral staircase connects the first and second floors.

The south-west room on the second floor has late 16th-century panelling. The east corridor has four similar four-centred arched stone doorways. The north-west room on the first floor has 16th-century panelling. The south-west room has a 16th-century plaster ceiling and 18th-century panelling, together with a mid-18th-century eared chimneypiece. The middle room on the west side has a 16th-century plaster frieze. The west corridor on the first floor has four similar four-centred arched stone doorways, one with a Latin inscription and carved spandrels.