Bockleton Hall

Bockleton Hall is a substantial Victorian house built between 1866 and 1869 by architect Henry Curzon for Arabella Prescott. The building is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings, plain tiled and slate roofs behind parapets decorated with ridge tiles, and gable-end parapets with kneelers. Tall chimney stacks of cogged brickwork with overhanging cap courses rise prominently from the roofline.

The house follows an asymmetrical plan with multi-gabled elevations. It comprises two storeys and an attic with a chamfered plinth, dripmoulds to all storeys, and a first floor sill string. A substantial service wing extends to the north.

The east entrance elevation is the principal façade and contains the most elaborate architectural features. The main part of the house on the left consists of the gable end of the south range, followed by a striking projecting entrance and water tower with an adjoining gable end to the central wing. This is followed by a recessed stair hall and a secondary entrance. The south range gable end features two ground floor French windows with transom lights and two first floor single-light windows with transoms, flanking an external chimney. Two loopholes pierce the gable apex. These windows are partially obscured by a lean-to conservatory at ground floor level.

The entrance tower is the most distinctive feature, rising through three storeys with an additional storey at third stage sill level. It is topped by a machicolated parapet rising above a Lombard frieze decorated with quatrefoil relief ornament and dragon gargoyles at the corners. The tower originally bore a steeply pitched pyramidal lead roof. At ground level, a pointed archway of two orders, the inner on semi-circular responds, contains a hoodmould with foliated stops and is surmounted by a shield. The second stage has a single-light window with a transom. The third stage displays a pointed opening with a mullioned and transomed window flanked by finialed hooded projections that conceal drainpipe outlets. Within the porch is a quadripartite vault with ribs rising from foliated corbels, and a pointed doorway with double doors.

The adjacent gable end to the right displays a five-light ground floor window with two transoms, a pair of large first floor single-light windows with transoms, and a three-light second floor window with a transom. A loophole pierces the gable apex, which is surmounted by an owl finial—the symbol of the Prescott family. A three-light ground floor window with two transoms occupies the right angle.

The stair hall range features a large five-light window with four transoms, above which sits a two-light second floor window and a loophole in the gable apex. To the right of this window is a secondary flat-roofed entrance porch with a pointed archway and a six-panelled door. Above the porch are three-light windows on both upper floors.

The service range adjoins to the right in an L-shaped plan with similar window types. The east wing is probably a late 19th-century addition, distinguished by a roof with swept eaves, a moulded brick eaves cornice, and single storey and attic construction with dormer windows.

The interior is a virtually complete example of a planned Victorian domestic interior, retaining most original fittings and decorations. The centrepiece is a galleried central hall with pointed arched arcading on marble columns. The hall contains a painted frieze of hunting dogs by J H Wallis of Chiswick Mall, an ornate Gothic stone fireplace, and a large lantern roof. Adjacent to the hall is an open well oak staircase lit by a window with glass by Kempe.

The Morning Room, Drawing Room and Library contain marble fireplaces salvaged from Clarence House, Roehampton. The Library fireplace is particularly notable, decorated with Egyptian demi-figures and hieroglyphics. The frieze of classical figures in the Library and Lobby also came from Clarence House and were painted by E J Parris in 1841.