Mere Hall

Mere Hall is a large country house of exceptional architectural interest, built around 1560 and substantially altered in the early 17th century and around 1700, with further modifications made around 1830–40, probably by the architect M. Habershon.

The building is constructed with a timber frame, rendered infill panels, and a chamfered sandstone base, with plain tiled roofs. It follows a traditional plan with a central hall aligned roughly east to west, flanked by two cross-wings. All three elements comprise three framed bays. The structure rises to two storeys with an attic storey.

The hall contains a rear central sandstone chimney with four rebuilt star-shaped brick stacks, now enclosed within a 19th-century addition. The front elevation features a small square addition in late 17th-century style positioned in the angle with the west wing, and a central porch. Both cross-wings were substantially altered in the 19th century and have external sandstone chimneys at the side of their northernmost bays. The east wing chimney features offsets and a large brick stack. The west wing chimney displays three rebuilt star-shaped stacks and is partly enclosed within a timber-framed outshut. At right angles to the rear of the west wing stands a large two-storey addition dating to the 19th century.

The timber framing displays close-set vertical studding throughout. The wings are braced with long straight braces across the lower corners of both storeys at their gable ends. Excepting the north gable end of the west wing, both wings have jettied attic storeys with moulded bressummers supported on decorative consoles. The roof trusses are collar and tie-beam types with two collars each, enriched with herringbone, lattice and concave-sided lozenge decoration. The attic storey of the main hall is jettied and features herringbone panels beneath the fenestration, paired with collar and tie-beam trusses adorned with concave-sided lozenge detail.

The north front elevation of the hall displays a row of five early 17th-century gables with moulded bargeboards and finials, as do the cross-wing gable ends. The hall itself contains a row of large leaded lights—five to the left and three to the right of the porch—on the ground floor. The first floor features two pairs of sash windows, probably dating to around 1700 but retaining Gothick traceried glazing bars. The attic storey has a five-light ovolo-moulded wood-mullioned window in each gable, creating the appearance of a continuous long gallery—a feature of particular architectural interest. The projecting bay of the late 17th-century addition carries a large leaded ground-floor light and a four-light first-floor window.

The central gabled timber porch dates to around 1700 and is noteworthy for its spiral Corinthian columns, entablature and broken pediment. The half-glazed door is framed with a moulded architrave. At the centre of the roof ridge stands an octagonal open-sided lantern, also of around 1700 date, topped by a large ball finial.

The left gable end contains a ground- and first-floor sash window with traceried glazing bars and an attic light. The right gable end displays two ground-floor twelve-pane sash windows, a first-floor sash window with traceried glazing bars, and an attic light. The outshut contains a sixteen-pane sash window.

The interior is reported to include a panelled dining room and a first-floor bedroom at the east end of the hall. The house was historically the seat of the Bearcroft Family. The date "1337" appears on a console at the attic storey of the hall, but this appears to bear no relation to the present building, save possibly the general plan.

Mere Hall stands as a large and impressive mid-16th-century building of considerable importance. The galleried effect created by the hall's attic storey, the decorative timber framing throughout, and the elaborately carved porch together constitute features of particular interest.