Boreatton Hall

Boreatton Hall

Country house, now reduced in size. The main building is dated 1675 by the rainwater heads and was built for Rowland Hunt, Sheriff of Shropshire in 1672. It was reduced in size around 1854, restored in 1933-4 (as marked on rainwater heads) and again in 1986-7. The house is constructed of red brick in mixed bond with sandstone dressings, and has a steep-pitched hipped plain tile roof.

The present L-plan with an extruded corner tower results from the demolition of one half of the former large U-plan house in the 19th century. The building is two storeys and attic, with a wooden scrolled modillion eaves cornice, moulded stone floor band and plinth, and alternating angle quoins. Wooden cross windows throughout (some with leaded lights) have plain stone lintels in two sections.

The north wing on its south side has three windows on each floor with a segmental eaves dormer to the right of centre. A rectangular tower projects into the angle to the right. This tower has four storeys with stepped windows lighting the stairwell, a scrolled modillion eaves cornice with pyramidal slate roof surmounted by a ball finial and weathervane, and a 20th-century half-glazed door to the bottom. The left return of the wing has two large early 20th-century cross windows on each floor, those on the ground floor cutting the plinth, with two segmental eaves dormers directly above. A central lead downpipe bears a representation of a beast and the superscription "RHF/1675" on its rainwater head.

The surviving section of the former centre (west) range has three closely spaced windows on the first floor with two below to the left and centre; the lower right (a former doorway) now has a late 19th-century French casement. The left and centre bays are divided by a brick pilaster with a stone Ionic capital and carved rosette at lintel level of the ground-floor windows. A lead downpipe to the left of the left window has a representation of a beast and the superscription "RHF/1675" on its rainwater head. A segmental eaves dormer sits in line with the pilaster.

The right wall of the wing was rebuilt in the 19th century when the remainder was demolished. It has a cross window on the first floor with a segmental eaves dormer directly above and a 20th-century French window directly below. The rear of the west range has two cross windows on each floor; the lower right has been replaced by late 20th-century panelled double doors. These are separated by a prominent stepped external stack with a tall narrow round-headed recess to the top. A segmental eaves dormer sits directly above the right window. A lead downpipe to the far left bears a representation of a beast and the superscription "RK/1813" on its rainwater head.

The projection of the north wing to the right has two cross windows on each floor with segmental eaves dormers above. A lead downpipe to the right has a carving of a beast and the superscription "RK/Restored/1933" on its rainwater head.

The rear of the north wing has eight slightly unevenly spaced cross windows on the first floor. The third bay from the left and the second bay from the right on the ground floor are occupied by plank doors. A small window sits between the second and third bays from the left on the ground floor; the right window is cut by a 20th-century lean-to (not of special architectural interest). Three segmental eaves dormers with red brick ridge stacks are positioned to the left and right. A central lead downpipe bears a representation of a beast and the superscription "RK/Restored/1934" on its rainwater head.

The staircase in the tower rises in short straight flights to the top, with turned balusters (symmetrical to the middle), open string, moulded handrail and added urn finials to newels. The house contains panelled doors, chamfered ceiling beams and corner fireplaces throughout. Several rooms on the ground and first floors have late 17th-century panelling, some of it decorated. The principal surviving room is on the ground floor of the former centre range and features rectangular oak panelling with some 17th or 18th-century stained glass to a wooden partition, and 19th-century armorial stained glass to the windows. The attic has wide boarded oak floorboards and a large number of exposed curved principals or 'upper crucks', several of which appear to be reused. A barrel-vaulted stone and brick cellar continues under the lawn and marks the full extent of the former house.

A plan and drawing preserved in the house indicate that the principal rooms were in the demolished part of the house, suggesting that the surviving section was originally the service part of the building. Fourteen hearths are recorded at Boreatton in both 1662 and 1672, though these must relate to an earlier house on the site. Some materials from the demolished part of Boreatton Hall are said to have been reused in the building of nearby Boreatton Park in 1855-6.