Blunden Hall And Old Hall Cottage

Blunden Hall and Old Hall Cottage are a house dating from the mid-16th century, with additions and alterations in the 17th century and early 19th century, and further additions in the mid- to late-19th and 20th centuries. The house is timber-framed with painted plaster infill panels, with later slate-hung gable ends to the south-east. A rendered limestone rubble addition with red brick dressings is present at the south-east end of the north-east cross wing, and a red brick 20th-century addition with stone dressings is situated at the south-east.

The building is arranged in an H-plan, comprising a three-bay 16th-century "hall" range, extended by a three-bay 16th-century cross wing to the north-east, and a three-bay 17th-century cross wing to the south-west. The facade has two storeys. A large brick ridge stack is located off-centre to the south-west, and a brick ridge stack and an off-ridge stack are on the north-east cross wing. The timber framing features close studding with a centre rail; the north-east cross wing exhibits short corner braces, while the first floor is jettied to the north-west, featuring plain brackets where a formerly jettied gable-end has been altered. The hall range is also jettied to the north-west, showcasing a moulded bressumer with carved stylized flower decoration. The south-west cross wing displays long straight tension braces, a jettied first floor on three sides with a refaced bressumer and plain brackets, and underbuilding to the south-east. Plain brackets are present on the formerly jettied gable ends, now rebuilt.

The south-east front of the hall range features two first-floor two-light casements. A projecting ground-floor 20th-century addition features a stone coped parapet and two three-light stone mullioned leaded casements flanking a central boarded door. The left-hand cross wing has a first-floor three-light casement and a ground-floor half-glazed door with margin lights, accompanied by a 19th-century lean-to conservatory. The right-hand cross wing features mid- to late-19th-century segmental-headed wooden cross windows on each floor, and a 20th-century door to the left. The south-west front has three first-floor glazing bar sashes (the central one with 16 panes) and two ground-floor glazing bar sashes, the left being tripartite. Evidence suggests a former two-storey timber-framed porch, perhaps with a balcony, once stood to the north-west of the hall range, indicated by disturbed framing and a segmental-arched panel.

Inside, the hall range displays moulded cross-beam ceilings with carved leaf patterns on the underside, comparable to those at Norton House, Church Street. A dragon beam is present in the south-west cross wing with similar decoration. 18th-century panelling is found in the central ground-floor rooms; likely 18th-century painting exists on a fireplace lintel in the south-west cross wing. A carved and moulded bressumer has been reused as a post in the staircase hall. A mid- to late-18th-century dog-leg staircase features turned balusters, a moulded ramped handrail, a columnular middle newel post, and square bottom newel posts. The house was initially begun by Andrew Blunden in the mid-16th century.