Renishaw Hall

Renishaw Hall is a country house of Grade I listed importance, located in Renishaw Park in the parish of Eckington.

The house was built circa 1625 by George Sitwell and subsequently altered and extended in two major campaigns: principally between 1793 and 1808 by Joseph Badger of Sheffield, and again in 1908 by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The building is constructed in ashlar and coursed rubble coal measures sandstone with slated pitched roofs behind crenellated parapets with pinnacles.

The house has an irregular plan comprising a 17th century central range flanked by late 18th and early 19th century ranges to the east and west, with domestic offices at the western end.

The north elevation displays a seven-bay central range set back from the main line of the façade, with a canted three-storey bay at the centre. This features stacked glazing bar sashes in flush stone frames, with ground and first floor openings positioned beneath continuous stringcourses that step up above the window heads. These details are repeated throughout the principal ranges with minor variations. A Gothic entrance porch, designed by Sir George Sitwell, forms a single-storey open flat-roofed structure supported by square columns with inset trefoil-ended panels. The porch has a shallow moulded frieze and cornice with a crenellated parapet between barbed pinnacles. On either side of the doorway are two bays containing stacked pairs of glazing bar sashes on all three floors, with the remains of former 17th century gables incorporated in the ashlar parapet with crenellations above. To the west is an advanced seven-bay flanking range of three storeys below an ashlar crenellated parapet, with stacked glazing bar sashes below wedge lintels and a broad band course at the head of the ground floor openings. Beyond this is a lower two-storey four-bay range with stacked glazing bar sashes below wedge lintels and a shallow parapet with broad ashlar chamfered coping.

The garden elevation to the south is asymmetrical, with eleven bays to the main ranges and a five-bay centre incorporating remnants of the 17th century gabled house. The two central bays are of three storeys and set back with a quoined chimney breast dividing them, terminating in a cluster of three octagonal stone chimneys. The three storeys feature glazing bar sash windows in flush stone frames as with the north elevation. An advanced two-bay section to the west has first floor windows modified to imitate double glazed doors, providing access to shallow curved iron balconies. Further to the west is an advanced four-bay range of two storeys with a panelled frieze between the ground and first floor window openings. The east range begins with a two-storey canted bay window with a balustrade to the parapet, followed by two bays of two storeys, and then well set back, a five-bay two-storey wing arranged 1-3-1, with the centre comprising a very broad canted bay and a doorway with moulded surround at the angle of the two ranges, fitted with a glazed door.

The interior preserves the core of the 17th century house. The entrance hall contains a decorative geometric flagged floor and is now completely open with Tuscan columns supporting the upper floors. The Library, formerly the Great Parlour, features a 17th century panelled plaster ceiling and decorative frieze. The Dining Room was designed by Badger in 1793 and includes an apse at one end flanked by pilasters with floral plaster decoration to the apse dome. The Great Drawing Room was also designed by Badger in 1803. The Ballroom, completed in 1808, contains ceiling plasterwork featuring the emblem of the Prince of Wales, in whose honour the opening ball was given. The Billiard Room, originally a lobby or anteroom to the Ballroom, was remodelled by Lutyens in 1909.

The house and its parkland have been associated with the Sitwell family from the early 17th century. The development of the estate reflects the family's influence as ironmasters and colliery owners from the 17th to the 20th century. The house has become widely known through the writings of three children of Sir George and Lady Ida Sitwell: Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell. Renishaw Park is separately included in the Gardens Register for Derbyshire at Grade II*, Item No 13.