Stisted Hall

Stisted Hall is a mansion, now a residential institution, built in 1823-5 by the architect Henry Hakewill for Charles Savill Onley (formerly Harvey), with architectural supervision by John Penrice of Colchester. The building is constructed of gault brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings, roofed with slate and lead.

The house is arranged on a rectangular plan with a short entrance elevation to the west, a long garden elevation to the south, and a large service range to the northeast. It comprises two storeys and cellars, with five internal stacks symmetrically arranged.

The west entrance elevation features, at ground floor level, two outer tripartite sashes of 4-12-4 lights with scalloped blind boxes and two inner sashes of 12 lights. The first floor has five sashes of 12 lights with moulded stone architraves. Much of the glazing is crown glass in large panes, which requires special care. The central double late 19th century hardwood doors with a moulded stone canopy on scrolled brackets are positioned centrally, with the central part of the elevation set back. A large tetrastyle Ionic portico has a ceiling of transparent corrugated plastic on web steel joists. A plain stone band runs across the elevation, beneath a dentilled stone parapet which conceals roofs of shallow pitch.

The south garden elevation displays a 2:5:2 window range. At ground floor level, the outer tripartite sashes of 4-12-4 lights have scalloped blind boxes, with inner sashes of 12 lights extending the full storey height. On the first floor, the left outer sash of 12 lights retains a blind box, though the other is missing. Much crown glass survives. The middle part of the ground floor has been altered to stand forward on a raised terrace, with three stone steps to each window.

Internally, the entrance hall features a painted wooden fireplace, six late 19th century moulded four-panel doors of polished hardwood set in painted moulded architraves with carved crestings, an original floor of limestone with inset squares of slate, and a moulded plaster cornice. The southwest 'Oak Room' contains 19th century oak panelling and a coved ceiling. The dining room to the east has panelled plaster walls, two niches with shell heads, and a moulded plaster cornice. The next room to the east features panelled plaster walls and a moulded cornice with Greek key and honeysuckle ornament. The southeast room, known as 'the Cedar Room', has panelled plaster walls, two arched niches, a moulded plaster cornice with late 19th century work, and a fireplace of green marble. The stair hall, situated north of the dining room, contains a branching central stair with moulded stone treads, slender cast iron balusters of lotus and scroll design, and wreathed handrails. Two freestanding Ionic columns stand in this space, which also features a curved rear wall with moulded plaster band, a cylindrical lantern with shallow dome, and a scrolled, coffered and moulded ceiling. The cellars contain original fittings.

The house appears in Virtue's Picturesque Beauties of Great Britain (1832, page 55) depicted with a tented canopy on stanchions in the position of the present south extension, and was illustrated again in Country Life (supplement, sale advertisement) on 18 July 1914. While the Provisional List states that the house is 'said to contain 16th and 17th century panelling from Jenkin's Farmhouse', the only panelling found is 19th century, original to its present position.