Himley Hall

Himley Hall is a country house dating to the early 18th century, with substantial additions made between 1824 and 1827 by William Atkinson. It is constructed of ashlar with hipped slate roofs and rendered stacks. The principal range is aligned north-south, and Atkinson added flanking wings on an east-west alignment, connected to the main house by short links. This arrangement encloses three sides of an eastern entrance courtyard.

The west front features an early 18th century central block, three stories high, with a balustraded parapet and giant pilasters at the corners and either side of a central, pedimented projection. The fenestration is 2:3:2 bays, with glazing bar sashes, aprons, bracketed sills, raised architraves, and keystones. Flanking this are two-story, three-bay links, and single-bay wing ends, framed by paired Doric pilasters, with glazing bar sashes, bracketed sills, raised architraves, eaves cornices, and plain parapets.

The south front presents two stories, with an eaves cornice and plain parapet, defined by giant Doric pilasters. A central three-bay Ionic portico with unfluted columns provides a grand entrance, alongside glazing bar sashes with bracketed sills and raised architraves.

The east front has a deeply recessed three-story central block, giant corner pilasters, an eaves cornice, and a balustraded parapet. Boldly projecting two-story flanking wings with plain parapets step up in the center. The fenestration is arranged as 5:7:5 windows, with glazing bar sashes, raised architraves, bracketed sills, and a sill band to the second-floor windows. The central doorway is a C19 eight-panel door with a rectangular overlight, a pedimented architrave, and flanking columns.

Inside, the Entrance Hall contains an early 18th century fireplace with an eared wooden surround, a central boxed beam supported on paired Ionic pilasters, and a plaster cornice with egg and dart and dentil mouldings. An early 18th century dog-leg staircase is located immediately north of the hall, featuring a closed string, turned balusters, a ramped handrail, and a dado with bolection moulded panels. A large room to the west of the entrance hall has pilasters with acanthus leaf and palmette capitals, and an arabesque frieze. The first floor includes several bedrooms with large painted wooden wall panels and cornices featuring egg and dart and dentils. Several early 18th century fireplaces are present, one with a bolection moulded surround and another with an egg and dart moulded surround, console brackets, and an overmantle with volutes. A C19 fireplace has a reeded surround, corner blocks with roundels, and a further fireplace in the south wing at ground floor level features oak wall panelling approximately 6 feet high, incorporating an oak fireplace surround flanked by two pairs of Ionic columns with console brackets above each supporting a bold cornice, along with 6-panel doors and an overmantel possessing an egg and dart moulded cornice. Chimney pieces for Himley Hall were made by Charles Cope Tubshaw.