The Old Hall

The Old Hall, Martley

A former rectory, now a house of exceptional historical and architectural importance. The building dates mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries with subsequent additions and alterations spanning the 16th to 20th centuries. It is constructed of timber-frame clad in brick with a plain tile roof.

The plan is essentially H-shaped. The central core comprises a 14th-century open hall of two bays with a through passage at the south end. Originally there was a gap of about 1.5 metres between this hall and a contemporary three-bay upper end range to the north. A 15th-century service range to the south consists of two bays, with a single bay projecting at right angles. Lateral stacks were built against the west wall of the hall and north wall of the upper end. A 17th-century brick infill lies to the west of the hall, and a service range of the same period stands to the north of the upper end.

The garden front presents an irregular two-storey elevation. A late 18th-century semi-circular projecting bay to the left (north) fronts the upper end, with a parapet partially concealing a gable that displays early 19th-century pierced bargeboards. The bay has three 12-pane sashes to the first floor and a central glazed door on the ground floor flanked by two sashes. The hall section has two 16-pane sashes with flush sash boxes to the first floor, and three similar sashes to the ground floor arranged as 12-16-12 panes, the central one under a segmental head and the outer two under rubbed brick heads. A gabled projecting porch fronts the through passage, featuring early 19th-century pierced bargeboards, panelled brick cornice, and toothed brick string. Above the porch are two-light casement lights in the attic, above a 12-pane sash with flush sash box under a rubbed brick head with keystone to the first floor. The passage entrance has a segmental head and the plank door, probably 16th-century, retains its original hinges; an identical door stands at the other end of the passage. The service cross-wing gable likewise displays early 19th-century pierced bargeboards, with two-light casement lights above 12-pane sashes with flush sash boxes under rubbed brick heads with keystones. A blank brick wall to the right (south) fronts the single-bay service extension.

Interior features of outstanding significance include the hall's central truss and spere truss of massive timbers. The central truss incorporates large angle braces to the tie, above which are two curved struts from tie to collar forming a two-centred arch. Wind-braces (now removed) formerly connected to slender single purlins. The principal rafters, of relatively small scantling, are inclined at almost 60 degrees. The spere truss has curved angle braces from spere posts forming a two-centred arch, with the apex cut into the soffit of the tie-beam; elbowed struts rise from tie-beam to principal rafters and collar. All principal arrises are decorated with ovolo chamfers. A floor of 16th-century date was inserted into the gap between hall and upper end, contemporary with a staircase of the same period featuring carved newel posts in low relief, turned balusters, moulded string and handrail. The upper end roof displays curved struts from tie-beam to principals with collar, pitched at a similar angle to the hall. The north wall of the west bay retains remnants of a three-light ogee-headed window. The through passage contains three ogee-headed service entrances; the west bay of the service range preserves remnants of mid-15th-century wall paintings with two black letter inscriptions in English on the timbers. The service roof is of clasped-purlin type with diminished principals, dating probably to the early 15th century.

The upper floor is now accessed by a stair commencing in the hall, which has been remodelled but includes mid-18th-century turned balusters.

Notable fittings include an alabaster slab of circa 1460, salvaged from a tomb in the church, now set into the east wall of a room in the service wing which also contains a 15th-century wall painting formerly over the hall fireplace. The ground floor east room of the service range retains some moved 18th-century pine panelling. The west room on the first floor of the service range features early 17th-century oak panelling with deep frieze. Rooms to the west of the hall contain imported 18th-century panelling, installed in 1960-61 from Manchester.

This is an exceptionally important house, notable for its archaic feature of a separate upper end range, set only 1.5 metres distant from the hall. It was the birthplace of C. S. Calverley (1831), the poet and parodist, and the childhood home of Sir Charles Hastings, founder of the British Medical Association.