Halstead Hall

Halstead Hall is a small country house of 16th-century origin, substantially restored in 1852, 1922 and 1966. It stands in a slightly elevated position and is surrounded by an earlier moat.

The building is constructed in red brick laid in English bond with ashlar dressings, and has plain tiled roofs. It features raised stone coped gables with kneelers and finials, and one brick coped gable. Two 19th-century ridge stacks are present: one with paired diamond shafts and another with three shafts.

The plan now consists of a main range with a lower unit to the right, though it was probably originally L-shaped around a courtyard. The main block is two storeys with a garret, arranged over six bays. The front elevation displays a moulded plinth and stone string course, ashlar quoins to the left-hand side, and a moulded stone eaves course.

The ground floor features a central 20th-century door with moulded surround, flat head and hood. To either side are two sets of three-light windows with chamfered mullions and transoms, four-centred arched lights, concave chamfered surrounds, and flat heads with labels. The three lights on the extreme right retain their original heads; the rest are 19th-century replacements. Four-centred brick relieving arches sit above the windows. To the left is a 20th-century wooden door set within a 16th-century four-centred arched surround featuring moulded reveals, blank shields contained in circles within the spandrels, and a moulded flat hood. A disturbance in the brickwork above this suggests a former opening.

The first floor contains two further sets of paired windows, each with three lights. The masonry is predominantly 16th-century with some 19th-century repair, matching those on the ground floor. To the left is a small fixed light with a round arched head, moulded square surround and label. To the right is a single-storey unit with attic, comprising three bays. Its base and part of the front wall are 16th-century, but extensive 19th and 20th-century remodelling has transformed it into a service range. Evidence in the right-hand gable of the main block shows this lower part was originally of full height with the rest. The ground floor contains a 19th-century gabled porch with two 20th-century three-light casement windows to its left. At first-floor level is a small fixed light and a two-light through-eaves dormer. A 19th-century ornamental brick stack is present on the lower unit to the right.

The rear elevation features a three-light window with four-centred head, removed from the front in 1966. To its left is a single 20th-century window with stone surround and a three-light 16th-century window with flat head, hood mould and brick relieving arch above. To the right is a further 20th-century two-light stone window with hood mould. At first-floor level is a 16th-century three-light window with four-centred heads and hood mould, a 20th-century plain light in a stone surround, and a three-light 20th-century copy of a 16th-century three-light window.

The interior retains a moulded stone doorway with four-centred head, comprising two roll mouldings separated by a concave moulding. A 17th-century plank and muntin door is present, though not in its original position. The living room contains a fireplace surround in stone featuring a four-centred flattened arch with decorative carving in the spandrels; the moulding terminates in a bulbous foot. This surround was originally positioned on the first floor. Three smaller, narrower stone arches matching the ground-floor example are located on the first floor. A later corridor has been inserted.

The 17th-century roof is constructed as a staggered butt purlin with braced collars.