The Old Hall

THE OLD HALL

A house with attached barn and boundary wall, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with mid-18th and 19th-century additions. The main house is constructed of render over red brick and timber frame, with a shallow rubble plinth in places and a plain tile roof. The roof structure comprises a single ridge stack of four diagonal shafts towards the rear right, and a single quadripartite stack also to the rear.

The house rises to two storeys with an attic above, extending across five bays. The rightmost single bay dates to the 19th century. The remainder of the building is of 16th-century timber-frame construction except for the 17th-century two-storey gabled porch, which occupies the second bay from the left, sits on a plinth, and contains a doorway with a glazing bar double door. Behind this outer door is an inner 16th-century wooden door with stud-headed nails, fleur-de-lys hinges and a moulded wooden surround.

The ground floor fenestration comprises, from left to right: a single tripartite casement, two glazing bar sashes (forming part of the porch), and a single quadripartite glazing bar casement on the far right. The first floor has three glazing bar sashes, with a single tripartite glazing bar casement to the left and a bowed quadripartite casement to the right. The attic features a single wood and lead flat-topped dormer with a small decorative central pediment, containing a single tripartite glazing bar casement.

To the left and set back from the main range is a two-storey single-bay render and plain tile wing with a 20th-century red brick stack to the rear left. This wing has a doorway with a glazing bar double door and above it a single tripartite glazing bar casement.

Projecting from the left side is a red brick and timber-frame barn, two storeys high and three bays wide, with a concrete pantile roof. The side wall, which has been altered, contains a single small tripartite glazing bar casement, a single small glazing bar casement, and a doorway with a glazing bar door. Various ventilators are present. The front gable wall features a large doorway with a garage door. Projecting from the front right of the barn is a red brick wall which slopes down to approximately one metre high, extending for about nine metres to a gate pier. A corresponding gate pier marks the continuation of the wall, which extends for a further nine metres before rising and terminating.

The rear elevation of the house reveals the central two bays to project and be separately gabled. The right-hand gable marks the position of the 17th-century stair turret, which sits on a plinth, has sprocketed eaves, and contains a single tall segmental-arched glazing bar casement. The single 18th-century bay to the left has a single stack to the front left, a first-floor band, and a band over first-floor openings, with a single tripartite glazing bar casement on each floor. To the right of the 17th-century wing are lean-to extensions with, from left to right, a single small glazing bar casement, a single tripartite casement, and a doorway with a 17th-century plank door with stud-headed nails. The rear of the 19th-century wing has a single quadripartite glazing bar casement and above it a single five-light casement. The remaining wings have various lean-tos and extensions.

The barn's rear wall displays three visible posts, a wall plate, and a girding beam.

The interior preserves a substantial proportion of timber framing including posts, braces, and ground sill bands. Two bressumer beams span over fireplaces. The 18th-century wing contains part of the original close-studded wall of 16th-century construction. The dairy contains unusual fish-scale pargetting. The stair turret features a fine three-storey open-well staircase with well-executed fretted balusters, plain newels, and a moulded handrail. The attic contains some stud partitions. The porch includes some 18th-century panelling. The interior of the barn also retains posts and braces.