Merevale Hall

Merevale Hall is a substantial country house of late 17th and 18th century origins, comprehensively rebuilt between 1838 and 1844. The rebuilding was initially undertaken by Edward Blore but completed with alterations by Henry Clutton for William Stratford Dugdale. The house is constructed of brick faced with Hollington stone ashlar and incorporates cast iron beams. Slate roofs feature parapets and shaped gable parapets with moulded copings, while stone ridge and end stacks have octagonal shafts with moulded bases and cornices.

The house is arranged on a courtyard plan and is designed in Elizabethan style across three storeys. The symmetrical south-east front facing the garden displays a composition of 1-1-3-1-1 bays. It has a moulded plinth, sill courses and first-floor string course throughout. Stone recessed chamfered mullioned windows feature plate glass to the ground floor and sashes to the upper floors. The slightly projecting centre is articulated with Doric pilasters with raised bands and panelled pedestals, paired at the angles between each bay, beneath a fielded panelled frieze. Half-glazed double-leaf doors in a moulded surround are set beneath a keyed round arch with carved tympanum. The windows on either side of the central doors are 2-light with central transoms, while the end bays have 3-light windows with transoms.

The main range features a panelled frieze below the first-floor windows across all five bays, with panelled pedestals and moulded finials above the pilasters at the centre. A central tall semi-circular 5-light oriel with moulded corbelled base rises above, featuring two transoms, a coved cornice and moulded embattled parapet. All other bays have 2-light windows with transoms and moulded cornices on consoles with semi-circular centres and finials. The second floor displays a tall central cross window in a moulded surround with similar cornice, rising into a shaped gable. Other bays contain 2-light windows, with the centre having blind slit windows in the upper floor angles. An entablature and open arcaded parapet on moulded consoles flank the windows, with large moulded and panelled pedestals with finials and arched cupolas topped by stone ogee roofs at the centre. End bays have round-arched panels and finials. Projecting wings contain four-storey square angle turrets with string courses, slit windows and stone ogee roofs with finials, and shaped gables. Two-storey five-light bay windows have two transoms to the ground floor and one to the first floor. The panelled entablature has enriched angles and moulded cornice, with a strapwork balustrade above. Above are 3-light windows with arched central lights and two transoms, topped by moulded cornices. A single-storey range on the left has a canted bay and round-arched glazed door in a moulded surround with overlight.

The south-west front was established as the main entrance in 1842 and comprises two bays. A single-storey range across the front features a large porch on the right with big clasping buttresses rising into pedestals with finials and blind arcaded turrets with ogee roofs. An open work parapet contains a large round-arched central panel. A wide moulded basket arch with sunk spandrels frames round-arched panelled double-leaf doors beneath a moulded arch with imposts. A 6-light window with transom sits on the left. Above the porch is a slight projection with 2-light windows detailed similarly to the garden front. The left bay projects slightly and features a canted oriel with strapwork cresting. The second floor has a 2-light window with hood mould, and a shaped gable with finials and an arched bellcote.

A lower three-storey service wing of two 2-bay ranges at right angles to the left has a corbel-table throughout. The inner range has a shaped end gable with a stack of six shafts and parapet with central dormer. The outer range has an embattled parapet with no visible roof and irregular fenestration.

The north-east front comprises a five-bay range with a central two-storey canted bay of 1-4-1 lights. Other bays have 2-light windows, with a central gable and balustrade. A one-storey bay on the right has a 4-light window and balustrade at the foot of the tower.

The north-west front has a five-window range on the left. The first bay is a five-storey tower with high buttresses featuring two gablet offsets above a string course and a 2-light window. The second floor is blank. The third floor has a 3-light window in a moulded surround. The fourth and fifth floors, rebuilt in 1841 to a more elaborate design, have canted angles with a splay course, blind arches to the canted sides and 2-light windows. The openwork parapet has a stack to the north-east. The second and fourth bays contain two-storey 3-light canted bays with embattled parapets. The third bay has 3-light windows. The fifth bay contains a door in a moulded surround with 2-light overlight and a 2-light window above. Ground floor windows have two transoms, first floor windows one; hood moulds occur throughout. The second floor has 2-light windows and the parapet with panels above each bay is similar to the south-east front. Lower three-storey 2-bay ranges on the right have a smaller 4-storey section with a square tower between them, with moulded string courses. The lower storeys are obscured by an irregular range. A three-bay arcaded loggia at right angles has single lights on the second floor and cross windows with moulded shaped cornices on the third floor. The openwork parapet features an octagonal stair turret. The right range has a corbel-table and embattled parapet largely hidden by a similar two-storey range built across it, with irregular fenestration throughout.

The interior displays good quality detailing throughout. The staircase hall has an internal porch and moulded wood doorcases with round-arched cornices, along with a Jacobean style white and black fireplace. The open well staircase features a strapwork balustrade. A screen of three moulded and enriched round arches with panelled piers and cartouche keys defines the space. The first floor contains similar arcades, open on two sides to corridors and on two sides with Venetian-traceried windows containing heraldic stained glass. An elaborate coved, panelled and moulded plaster ceiling features a large ornamented pendant.

The Dining Room has a panelled dado and a marble chimneypiece with bulging pilasters and an overmantel containing a semi-circular mirror in a moulded surround with carved spandrels and strapwork cresting. An enormous mirrored sideboard recess and coved and panelled plaster ceiling complete the room. The L-shaped library has fitted bookcases and carved wood strapwork cresting to the overmantel and doors. The Drawing Room features a moulded plaster ceiling and two bolection-moulded fireplaces. The top-lit saloon has an octagonal skylight. Several rooms have marbleised slate classical fireplaces.