Hampton Hall

Hampton Hall

Country house built 1681-86 for Henry Powell, possibly incorporating parts of an earlier house. Altered in 1749 for Edward Herbert, with later additions and alterations including a range of 1938 set back to the rear on the left.

The late 17th-century house comprises a central rectangular section with projecting wings to the left and right. It is constructed of red brick (the left wing with thin bricks of mixed English and Flemish bonds) with slate roofs. The centre section has crow-stepped gable ends, while the projecting wings have hipped roofs. The building is apparently three storeys over a semi-basement, though it is actually only two storeys to the left of the entrance. The roof is concealed by a partly rebuilt brick parapet with dentilled capping.

The central section displays seven windows with flush-framed eight-paned glazing bar sashes with gauged heads. The ground floor windows are taller. The second tier consists of pairs of roundels to left and right, with three blind rectangular openings to the centre. The two roundels to the left are dummies, while the one on the right has had its original thick glazing bars replaced. The semi-basement has four small segmental-headed windows, two to the left of the entrance of which are blind. The central entrance features a sandstone ashlar porch approached by a straight flight of twelve steps. It has round-headed open arches to the front and sides with a shaped pediment broken by the Herbert coat-of-arms. The porch is dated 1749, with the numbers '17' inscribed to the left of the keystone of the front arch and '49' to the right. There are eight-panel double inner doors.

The left wing projects with a brick plinth with slate capping, possibly representing part of an earlier building. The date 1686 is inscribed in large sandstone numbers to the left and right of the second floor windows, with letters 'HP' picked out in brick to the centre, referring to the completion of the late 17th-century house. The wing is two storeys over a semi-basement with a moulded wooden eaves cornice and continuous floor band. There are two windows on each floor, flush-framed eight-paned glazing bar sashes with gauged heads, and segmental-headed openings to the semi-basement, some partly infilled with later windows inserted. The left return has three glazing bar sashes on each floor, two to the left and one to the right of an integral brick stack. This stack features a recessed rectangular panel with a curious cracker-shaped relief and a dentilled band at eaves level. The roof has slate-hung hip-roofed dormers to the left and right. The right return has blocked windows on each floor in the angle with the centre section.

The right wing is probably slightly later than the centre section (a straight joint is visible) and was built to balance the existing left wing. It is two storeys over a semi-basement with a moulded eaves cornice and floor band as on the left wing. There are two glazing bar sashes on each floor with segmental-headed windows to the semi-basement as in the centre section. The right return has three segmental-headed windows with a mixture of mid-19th-century sashes and casements on each floor, and a narrow late-20th-century casement inserted on the first floor. The roof has slate-hung hip-roofed dormers, one to the left and three to the right of a tall integral lateral stack with blind openings on each floor within the shaft. There is an integral end stack to the right. The most prominent feature is a two-storey bow added to the far left around 1749. It is constructed of red brick with sandstone ashlar dressings, with a moulded cornice and coped brick parapet surmounted by a stone eagle with outspread wings. A Venetian window on the first floor has Ionic capitals and original thick glazing bars. There is a stone floor band and a plain pedimented stone doorcase with a four-panel door approached by a flight of five semi-circular steps. To the right is a half-glazed door and a brick mounting block. A tall crow-stepped gabled projection to the rear, also added around 1749, houses the main staircase.

Interior features include a main room to the left of the entrance with a late 17th-century moulded stone fireplace and painted 18th-century panelling. One room in the right wing is completely oak panelled with dado and large bevelled panels reaching to a moulded cornice, characteristic of early 18th-century work. The fireplace in this room has a swagged overmantel, contemporary with the panelling. A wide mid-18th-century staircase has three elaborately twisted balusters to each shallow tread, a moulded handrail, and an open string. A plainer oak staircase in the right wing is probably late 17th-century. Several rooms on the first floor have panelling with simple decoration to the friezes. Panelled doors and shutters to windows are found throughout. An obliquely truncated stone inscribed '1681/H-P/I-F' (Henry Powell, son of John Powell) is in the stone cellar of the left wing, probably commemorating the beginning of the late 17th-century building but is not in situ.

Several urn-shaped finials, formerly situated on the brick parapet of the centre section, are now in the garden. A three-bay Georgian-style brick range, dated 1938, is set back to the rear on the left.