Tunstall Hall

Tunstall Hall is a small country house, now an old people's home, dating to circa 1732. It is constructed of red brick with painted sandstone dressings, featuring a 2-span hipped plain tile roof and a double-pile plan across 3 storeys.

The building sits on a chamfered stone plinth with flat string courses between the ground and first floors, a first-floor cill string, and a moulded stone cornice and parapet (rebuilt or repointed in the 20th century) with stone coping. Four brick stacks with stone copings are distributed across the building: two to the front, one to the left-hand side, and one to the rear.

The north-west entrance front comprises 9 bays. The windows are glazing bar sashes: those on the second floor have moulded architraves; those on the first floor have lugged moulded architraves, frieze and cornice; and those on the ground floor have bracketed cills, lugged moulded architraves, frieze and triangular pediments. The central pair of entrance doors features 4 raised and fielded panels. The stone doorcase consists of moulded architrave, hollow-panelled pilaster strips, frieze and console brackets supporting a segmental pediment. Three stone steps lead up to the doors, flanked by plain wrought-iron railings.

The right-hand return front displays 1 to 3 bays, with ground and first-floor glazing bar sashes to the right having stone cills and gauged-brick heads with raised stone keystones. A full-height canted bay extends to the right, with recessed segmental sections at the angles between straight sections to the front and sides. Glazing bar sashes feature painted stone cills and lintels, with ground-floor sashes extending to floor level. A lead downpipe in the angle to the right connects to a plain lead rainwater head. The 5-bay left-hand return front has second-floor keyed glazing bar sashes.

The south-east garden front comprises 9 bays with glazing bar sashes featuring painted stone cills and gauged-brick heads with raised keystones; ground-floor sashes extend to floor level. The central pair of French casements has a 6-pane rectangular overlight and Gibbs surround with a 5-part keystone, pulminated frieze and triangular pediment. Six red sandstone steps lead up to this door.

An early 19th-century service block to the north-east is 2 storeys with a coped parapet and a 2-span roof featuring pairs of brick ridge stacks and external brick end stacks. It presents 5 bays to the front and 3 bays to the rear, with glazing bar sashes with painted stone cills and slightly segmental glazing bar sashes.

Interior

The interior is mainly of early 20th-century date, though some rooms were redecorated in the mid-19th century.

The entrance hall is a full-height square room articulated by 2 implied orders. The ground floor features a triglyph frieze with guttae and alternating paterae and other motifs including buchrania and trophies, topped by a moulded cornice. Above rises raised and fielded first-floor panelling, an enriched upper frieze with bead and reel and other ornament, and a modillion cornice with egg and dart enrichment and alternating paterae. The ceiling is centred by an oval panel with bold guilloche ornament and a central rose with acanthus ornament.

A first-floor gallery at the rear features turned balusters and panelled square dies, a panelled soffit with egg and dart enrichment, and a triglyph frieze to the front, supported at each end on Doric pilasters. Three ground-floor doors at the rear and doorways at each end of the gallery provide access. Windows throughout are fitted with moulded architraves; those on the first floor have enriched mouldings with panels between and beneath. Ground-floor shutters feature raised and fielded panels. A fireplace to the left has a heavy eared stone architrave and a panel above with quadrant corners; the chimney-breast has double-quirked corners.

The main staircase to the right of the hall dates to the 18th century. It comprises four flights arranged around a square well with landings. The open string is fitted with cut brackets and 2 turned balusters per tread (some 20th-century replacements), a moulded handrail and a wreathed foot newel with a symmetrical vase-shaped newel post. The soffit is panelled plaster.

An inserted mid-19th-century staircase occupies the left side of the entrance hall.

The left-hand ground-floor front room is largely mid-19th-century work, with a dado rail with Greek key ornament and moulded cornice. Its fireplace has a reeded surround. An elliptical-arched niche features panelled reveals, moulded architrave and a continuous impost band with swags.

The left-hand ground-floor rear (dining) room is also mainly mid-19th-century. It displays an enriched plaster frieze with anthemion and palmette ornament. The ceiling is divided into 3 panels by wide bands of vine trails with acanthus edging. A 19th-century marble fireplace surround is present.

The central ground-floor rear room features 19th-century Jacobean-style panelling with fluted frieze and a mid-19th-century marble fireplace surround.

The ground-floor right-hand end room has a bay that is segmental on the inside. It shows an enriched plaster frieze with egg and dart ornament and a soffit with scrollwork. The ceiling is centred by a plaster rose with scrollwork and acanthus edging, with outer bands of square panels, each featuring a central patera and anthemion border. A mid-19th-century marble fireplace is fitted. Each doorway has a lugged architrave, frieze and cornice.

Throughout the ground floor, 6-panelled doors are fitted with moulded architraves, and windows have panelled shutters.

The first-floor rooms were not inspected.

Tunstall Hall stands within a small wooded park.