Underhill Hall

Underhill Hall is a farmhouse, now a house, dating to circa 1700, built upon a mid-17th century core. It is constructed of painted sandstone rubble, with a painted red brick front, and has a slate roof. The building’s design includes a plat band between the ground and first floors, a dentil brick eaves cornice, a large brick ridge stack off-centre to the right, a rendered brick stack just off-centre to the left, and an external brick end stack to the left. The facade is arranged with a 3:1:3 bay layout, featuring small-paned wooden casement windows (some of which are blind). A central half-glazed door, composed of two lower raised and fielded panels, is protected by a 18th-century two-storey gabled brick porch. The porch has plat bands, a dentil brick eaves cornice that returns to the front, a round-arched entrance defined by panelled piers, moulded imposts, and a moulded architrave with a keystone. Benches are incorporated into the porch interior. A 19th-century two-storey kitchen wing extends to the rear, with an integral brick end stack.

The interior retains comprehensive 17th and early 18th-century fittings. The hall contains 17th-century panelling and an early 18th-century fireplace with a beaded segmental arch, moulded cornice, and three bolection-moulded panels above, with a moulded cornice. A ground-floor room to the left contains an early 18th-century fireplace with raised and fielded panelling and a moulded cornice, alongside a fireplace with a beaded stone surround, moulded wooden cornice, and a large panel above. Flanking the fireplace are a pair of round-arched cupboards with raised and fielded panelled doors, panelled spandrels, and shaped shelves. A further ground-floor room on the left features 17th-century panelling with taper burns, doors with a fluted frieze, and a moulded cornice. The fireplace has a stone surround with raised and fielded panelled sides and lintel, with a fluted and shaped key, and an overmantel with raised and fielded panelled pilasters (where the cornice breaks forward above), flanking a bolection-moulded panel; it also includes a plastered spine beam. First-floor bedrooms on the left and right have early 18th-century fireplaces, each with a bolection-moulded surround, a moulded cornice, and three bolection-moulded panels above, with a moulded cornice, as well as late 18th and early 19th century grates. A middle bedroom has a 18th-century fireplace. A mid-17th-century staircase rises to the attic, taking three flights around a square well, featuring a closed string, pierced splat balusters, a moulded handrail, and square newel posts, topped with rounded caps – the top newel post has a large finial, while the lower newel posts are decorated with incised fleur-de-lys. Some painted 17th-century panelling is also present. A plain 17th-century winder back staircase exists. Throughout the house, doors are 18th century, with six raised and fielded panels. Panelled window reveals and seats are found in some rooms. The roof’s eaves were raised in the 18th century, incorporating king-post trusses.

Historically, the house passed to the Powys family of Berwick in 1722 and was utilized as a hunting lodge. By 1755, Henry Powys had established a small park and stocked two nearby pools with fish. The house forms part of a small farmstead group, including a barn to the north.