Pendrell Hall

Pendrell Hall

A small country house built in 1870, substantially remodelled and extended in 1909-10 by George Faulkner Armitage, with later adaptations.

Materials and construction

The hall is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and details, under pitched tile roofs with red brick chimney stacks.

Plan and layout

The building is roughly rectangular on plan and comprises two storeys with attic and basement. The main hall is entered through a porch and lobby. Principal rooms lead off the hall, with the main staircase positioned to the rear. Behind the staircase is the billiard room in a single-storey range, now partially subdivided, with further service ranges beyond. First-floor bedrooms in the main range reflect the plan of the rooms below, although there have been some alterations to the layout. The main range also has a cellar and attic floor. Stairs from the attic lead up into the tower.

Exterior

The main range is of two storeys with attic and basement. It has two symmetrical garden fronts and an asymmetrical entrance front, with a tower serving as the focal point of the composition.

The principal garden front faces east and comprises three symmetrical gabled bays. The narrow central bay has glazed double doors at ground floor level, with a window above and a small attic window under a stepped gable. The openings have keyed stone surrounds and decorative projecting hood moulds. The bays to either side feature castellated two-storey bow windows with stone dressings, and decorative stone vents in the gable ends. Attached and set back to the north is a three-bay range, with a second storey constructed in 1910, and with regularly spaced timber sashes under stone heads. Further north is the attached facade of the single-storey billiard room, with a projecting rectangular bay which has a castellated parapet. The three bays to the left stand forward of the building line in a square bay arrangement, and have three full-height windows with stone surrounds under a shaped brick gable with stone dressings. The bay to the right is set back and has a sash window, centrally positioned, under a stone head and hood mould.

The second garden front, facing south, is also of three symmetrical bays with two single-storey castellated bow windows to left and right and a later canted bay window with a plain parapet to the centre. The windows to the upper floors have keyed stone surrounds. The narrow central bay has a diamond window in the gable. The gables to either side are stepped.

An asymmetrical entrance front faces west, with a principal entrance in the centre-right bay with a decorative surround of 1910, and a tall stair window above. To the left of the door, the range is extended with a two-light window to the first floor and a castellated parapet above. The bays to the left are set back with stone-fenestrated windows to both floors, with a variation of treatments. A first-floor plinth marks the former roof line of a servant's hall that was removed in the 1910 remodelling of the building. The right bay has a gabled end with mullioned attic lights. A square tower of red brick, with stone parapet, rises behind the gable end. Further left along the west elevation is a 19th-century kitchen wall and 19th- to 20th-century kitchen ranges behind.

The roofs of Pendrell Hall are covered in clay tile, in some cases with fish-scale tiles, and there are stone finials and rose motifs on some of the lead flashings. Some brick stacks have been shortened, whilst others retain stone detailing and lead pots.

Grounds and setting

The grounds retain their original paved terrace of 1870 to the principal garden front, with stone steps and coped walls. The main door has a short paved entranceway with large stone ball finials and low wall, altered in the 21st century to create a ramp access. The wider landscape was reworked in 1909-10 with the addition of a sandstone lodge at the main entrance, which is not of special interest. The original gate piers and stone garden wall survive along Wood Road. A stone sundial with brass plate of 1909-10 stands on the south lawn.

Interior

An internal porch from the west door leads to a front lobby, with a cloakroom to the left. The lobby opens into a large main hall, reconfigured and panelled in 1909-10, with an elaborate carved arcade, doors to four rooms, a corridor to the north end of the house, and a staircase. There is a fireplace with ornate chimneypiece at the north end.

The first principal room from the hall, formerly the dining room, has a timber inglenook with chimneypiece, decorative ceilings and wall treatments, a panelled bow window and parquet flooring. The morning room is less lavishly detailed with moulded ceiling cornice and a plain timber chimneypiece. The north wall of the drawing room has been opened up to accommodate part of the former entrance hall and the former front door. The opening is lined with inlaid carved panelling, matching the chimneypiece on the west wall, which incorporates a timber overmantel and panelled units to either side. The fourth doorway leads into the former library of 1870 and dining room of 1910. This is fitted with a chimneypiece and overmantel, decorative ceiling and frieze, and a panelled bow window.

The north end of the hall has a panelled corridor passing to the right of the staircase. A doorway under the staircase leads to extensive compartmentalised cellarage. A doorway in the north wall leads to the former Small Library of 1870, converted to a rear hall in 1910. There is a door to the service range opposite doors to the serving room and school room. Steps lead down to the billiard room entrance. The former serving room has been converted to toilet facilities. The school room has a marble or stone chimneypiece and modern subdivisions. The stairway down to the billiard room has been repositioned against one wall, and retains urn finials and barleysugar balusters that match the main staircase. The doorway through to the billiard room has a reeded case and inscribed in the lintel is: ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS. The doors to the billiard room have stained glass upper panels and brass fittings. The billiard room is a long rectangular space with a raised section, with balustrade, in a square bay that projects into the garden terrace. The room is fitted with timber seating along some walls, parquet floors, decorative dado panels and friezes, and extensive rooflights. Behind the billiard room is the service range with modern kitchen facilities, scullery, corridor and a plain back staircase. The rear corridor has an encaustic tile floor, and a rear room has a stone or marble chimneypiece similar to that in the school room.

The staircase from the hall has thick carved newels with urn finials, and barleysugar balusters. The main flight turns in a dog-leg to the first-floor chambers, and has an additional short flight from the half-landing to the rear service range. The first floor of the principal range has a central landing with panelled arches to corridors either side, and bedrooms leading from them. Above the landing is a former lightwell with rose motifs in stained glass. The bedrooms are mainly in their original configuration, with chimneypieces and door furniture of 1909-10, and cornices. The rooms at the west end were reconfigured in 1910 and later. The main bedroom has a heavy ceiling cornice, and an inserted doorway leading to a late-20th-century fire escape. A doorway to the bathroom has been sealed. Windows to the first floor are mainly timber sashes, although some in the south-facing bedrooms are metal with brass catches. The rear rooms in the service range, and in the attic floor, are more modestly fitted but retain chimneypieces in some rooms. One room has a chamfered and stopped beam. The staircase to the tower has its original balustrade and doors.

History

Pendrell Hall was built as Pendryl Hall on a new site in 1870 for Edward Viles, a writer and publisher of Victorian short stories and serials. Viles experimented in micro-photography and the rear service ranges originally included a studio, laboratory and dark rooms. He was well-regarded in the field and his articles were published in many photography journals of the 1870s. In 1879, Viles rented the hall to prominent local businessman Richard Holt Briscoe for the use of his daughter Constance, wife of Walter Giffard of Chillington Hall. The building is shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1882. The building remained the residence of the Giffards until 1909, the time of Richard Briscoe's death. That year, the hall was bought by Frank Gaskell, the third son of the industrialist and art collector Holbrook Gaskell, and the house and grounds were remodelled by George Faulkner Armitage (1849-1937). The works of 1909-10 included the rebuilding of the rear and service wings, the reordering of some rooms, the installation of panelling, floor coverings, decorative ceilings and chimneypieces. The Gaskell family sold the building to Staffordshire County Council in 1955, and it was opened as a residential adult education college in 1961. Some internal alterations were made in the late 20th century and the outbuildings were largely rebuilt. The college closed in 2010.