Blithfield Hall

Blithfield Hall is a country house of late medieval origin, substantially rebuilt and extended over several centuries. The hall was the seat of the Bagot family from the late 14th century onwards.

The building comprises four ranges surrounding a rectangular courtyard, with extensions to the north east and east, and the main entrance positioned in the centre of the south range. Construction is in brick, plastered and lined as ashlar over an earlier timber frame, with slate roofs and plastered brick stacks.

The north range consists of two parallel ranges. The southern part is medieval in origin and contains the Great Hall to the west, with a screens passage and services to the east; beyond these lies the former solar, now used as a dining room. The original kitchen, latterly a servant's hall and now a workshop, lies further east. The northern part dates to around 1740. A north east block projects northward from the east end of the north range. It is two storeys with an attic, featuring a first floor band and plain parapet, arranged in 4:11:3 bays with glazing bar sashes and casements with segmental heads, including attic dormers. The projecting gable end has chamfered quoins. The north east block itself comprises two parallel ranges with linking parapets; the left-hand range has windows with straight heads. The west range's projecting gabled end features diagonal buttresses, a central false four-centred doorway arch with hood mould, and a tall three-light Gothic window above lighting the attic. A double porch towards the left-hand end has four-centred arches.

The west range comprises two parts: a 16th century range to the left and an addition of 1769 to the right. The 16th century range is two storeys and attic for its left-hand bays, then two storeys for the remainder, with six bays spanned by five irregular gables with bracketed barge boards. Glazing bar sashes feature returned hood moulds. A two-storey canted bay to the right has a moulded parapet and central glazed door. Single storey canted bays to the left of centre have Tudor arch openings. The 1769 addition is two storeys with a first floor band and low pitch roof, comprising two bays with glazing bar sashes. An octagonal crenellated turret projects at the right-hand angle.

The south range dates to the 16th century with a 1769 addition to the west end. A cloister with gallery over was added to its north side in 1820-24. The range is two storeys with crenellated parapet, arranged in 1:3:1:2 bays. The projecting gable end of the west range to the left features octagonal angle turrets. To the right of centre stands a three-storey gatehouse with diagonal buttresses surmounted by finials and a four-centred gate arch with returned hood mould. The remaining bays are separated by projecting chimney stacks with star-shaped shafts. Mullioned windows of four-light Tudor arch lights appear under square heads with returned hood moulds. The left-hand bay has a ground floor window with three cinquefoil-headed lights under a square head with panelled spandrels and returned hood mould. A first floor oriel window of four lights on fan brackets features angels holding shields. A two-storey set-back kitchen wing projects to the right, with six-light mullioned windows to the first floor and returned hood moulds.

The east elevation is three storeys with crenellated parapet. Six bays of the east range are flanked by the north east block on the right and a low kitchen wing on the left, with glazing bar sashes and casements with returned hood moulds. A partly colonnaded single storey lean-to extends approximately 10 yards east of the north east block.

The porch has a lierne vault with niches in the side walls and leads to an entrance hall with a flat panelled ceiling. The cloister on the north side of the south range features rib vaulting springing from colonettes, blind panelling between each window bay, and windows of three cinquefoil-headed lights beneath four-centred arches.

The Great Hall has decoration of 1822 with an elaborate lierne vault with pendants, tall canopied niches, and a tall chimney piece framing late 16th century panelling. Three tall two-light transomed windows light the hall to the south; the plasterwork is by Francis Bernasconi. A great staircase of around 1660, relocated from the lower end of the hall, features oak with elaborately carved openwork balustrades and newel finials.

The dining room, formerly the library, was probably originally the solar or great chamber. It has a wide barrel ceiling and Elizabethan or Jacobean panelling rearranged and coloured green and gold, with a large fireplace with cambered head probably dating to around 1820. The study dates to around 1740 and features plastered panelling.

The hall underwent significant remodelling between 1820 and 1824, probably by John Buckler, in a Tudor Gothic style. Earlier additions date to around 1740, probably by Richard Trubshaw, and to the later 18th century, perhaps by Charles Cope Trubshaw.