Hallaton Hall (Aka Torch House)

HALLATON HALL (also known as Torch House)

A country house with probable 16th-century origins, substantially remodelled in the early 19th century, and further extended and altered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The building is constructed mainly of rendered and colour-washed brick with hipped slate roofs and various brick ridge and side stacks.

The external form suggests an original hall and cross-wing E-plan layout, now much extended. The house presents 2 storeys with partial attic and 3-storey elements. The entrance front features a recessed centre with projecting wings either side, with a 5-window range at first-floor level comprising 20th-century windows: 4 in the centre and 1 on the left wing. The ground floor centre contains 2 mullion and transom windows with 2-lights and a pair of double-glazed doors within a glazed and colonnaded porch with glazed roof.

The garden front to the right presents a 3-storey central block with a large ground-floor projection and 2-storey blocks either side. This elevation displays a 6-window range at first-floor level of 20th-century sash-type windows, with a small additional window to the left of the higher block, and 2 sash windows to the third storey. The side wings feature 2 tall mullion and transom windows each, all windows with blind boxes and some with stucco heads. The central block's large projection contains tall mullion and transom windows with small 20th-century extensions either side. To the right stands an elaborate winter garden with glazed front, gabled roof, and gabled central entrance with double-glazed doors. Further right is a single-storey former music room addition dated 1903, featuring a simple Dutch gable and a stone square bay window facing the garden. Further additions extend behind. To the left of the entrance front, long wings extend rearwards with sash windows with stucco heads and a circa 1900 lean-to addition, with dormers above. The rear extensions on both sides have created a deep U-plan yard.

Interior

The interior underwent rich refitting around 1900. The entrance hall displays wooden panelling in Jacobean style with an elaborate screen and fireplace with overmantel. Art Nouveau patterned stained glass appears in the windows and screen. The ceiling beams feature deep sunk-quadrant and concave mouldings with run-out stops and appear to be 16th-century with later base boarding, the room's lower height suggesting this as the original date of this section.

The dining room to the left follows Jacobean style with panelling, 2 fireplaces with overmantels, plaster ceiling, and a deep bay with entrance supported on wooden reeded columns and pilasters. Art Nouveau patterned stained glass appears in some windows. To the right of the entrance hall, the drawing room features elaborate late 18th-century style decoration with 2 fireplaces incorporating tall thin composite columns and overmantels, panelled walls, and plaster ceiling decoration. The dividing arch and arch into the bay are supported on reeded Ionic columns and pilasters. Behind the drawing room, a further reception room features an 18th-century style marble fireplace and an elaborate window surround to the French window facing the winter garden.

The large staircase hall contains an open-well stair with ramped balustrade with turned balusters, possibly partially 17th-century, and dado panelling. This hall was remodelled around 1900 to incorporate a 2-storey screen with open arches and a further side screen with arches, creating a theatrical effect. An oval skylight with elaborate patterned and coloured glazing illuminates the space. Many rooms feature elaborate door furniture; throughout the first and second floors, doors are typically moulded 6-panel, probably from the early 19th-century remodelling, with architraves and cornices from this period. Over the entrance hall are heavy bridging beams, one boxed, possibly surviving from the early house. An early 19th-century stair with stick balustrade leads from the first floor to the attic. The steep roof of this range is a 19th-century replacement.

The winter garden is notably fine and intact, featuring tufa rockwork-covered walls, curving mosaic paths and floor, and central and surrounding raised beds. The former music room displays a coved ceiling, while the former reception room behind features a coved ceiling supported on moulded beams, with moulded doorcase and door.

This house, evolved over an extended period, retains much of its elaborate circa 1900 refitting and features of the early 19th century alongside fragments of the much older house.