Red House

Red House

This is a house dating from the 13th century and 16th century, with alterations made in the 17th century, 18th century and early 19th century. It is timber framed and mainly faced with red brick in Flemish bond, with some areas of rat-trap bond. The dressings are of gault brick and plaster, parts of the building are plastered, and it is roofed with handmade red plain tiles.

The building has a complex irregular half-H plan comprising several sections: a hall range originally with aisles facing south-west, with the front aisle now missing but the rear aisle surviving in residual form in rear extensions; a 16th century wing at the left end of the hall range set back from the front and extending to the rear; an early 19th century ballroom extension to the rear of this; a 16th century rear wing at the right end of the hall range; a 16th to 17th century service wing beyond this; minor 18th to 20th century single-storey extensions on both sides and beyond the service wing; a 16th to 17th century stair tower in the rear right angle; a small extension to the left of the stair tower incorporating a corridor link diagonally across the left rear angle; and a single-storey lean-to corridor to the right of the left wing.

The building stands at two storeys with a cellar and attics. The front façade is symmetrical in Flemish bond, breaking forward in the middle. It has a 1:3:1 window range, mainly of 18th century sash windows of twelve lights. The middle window was enlarged in the early 19th century to ten plus fifteen lights. All windows have flat arches of gauged red brick and some retain crown glass. A central six-panel door sits in an Ionic doorcase with two engaged columns, panelled jambs and soffit, a pulvinated frieze and dentilled flat canopy. Four giant pilasters of gault brick with plaster capitals support a dentilled and moulded plaster cornice and pediment. A plain parapet surmounts the façade, with a round window in the pediment edged with gault brick. The front of the left wing is faced with red brick in rat-trap bond, with one 20th century casement on the first floor. The left elevation shows an underbuilt jetty with some joists of horizontal section exposed.

The garden elevation to the right has an 18th century façade with 18th and early 19th century sashes and a plain parapet.

The interior is comprehensively styled in the late 17th and early 18th century, with early 19th century alterations in the entrance hall and elsewhere. It features white marble fire surrounds, six-panel and four-panel doors, and panelled folding shutters. Most rooms retain late 17th and early 18th century pine panelling, some with bolection mouldings. A late 17th century open-well staircase with turned and twisted balusters, square newels, closed string and moulded pine handrails survives.

The original timber structure is almost wholly concealed by panelling and plaster, except for three exposed posts: an arcade post to the rear of the front right ground-floor room arranged the same way up as the tree from which it came with a mortice for a rear aisle tie; a partly exposed arcade post in a cupboard off the diagonal corridor link; and a partly exposed wall post to the right of the stair tower. From these posts and the building's dimensions it appears that the aisled hall structure is 40 feet (12.19 metres) long, with a main span of 16 feet (4.88 metres) and a rear aisle 4 feet (1.22 metres) wide. The upright arrangement of the first arcade post indicates unjowled tying joints unlikely to be much later than the mid-13th century. Other parts of the original timber frame are probably present within the later surfaces and merit special care. The roof is wholly plastered internally but may retain early structure.

The house is set back from the road, allowing sufficient space for the former front aisle.

The manor of Church Hall was held by the Abbot of Westminster from before the Norman Conquest to 1539, when it passed to the Bishop of Westminster, and from 1550 to the Bishop of London. From 1553 it was leased first to John Wakering of Lincoln's Inn, associated with the Wakerings of Great Wakering in Essex, and then to the St. John family.

The size of the house and its position 130 metres from the parish church indicate that this was the manor house of Church Hall built for the Abbot of Westminster before the late 13th century. It was formerly named Red Mansion.