Ardeley Bury (700 Metres To West Of Church)

TL 3027 ARDELEY ARDELEY (west side)

9/15 Ardeley Bury (700m to W of church)

19.10.51

GV II*

Country house. Later C17 L-shaped brick house facing E of 2 builds on an ancient moated site, for the Chauncy family as tenants of St Pauls Cathedral. Extended on S in late C18 to a classical style U-shaped house facing S. Remodelled and extended c1820 as a Gothick castellated mansion for Commissary-General John Murray, facing E, with a new Great Hall to N of the entrance. Plum brick, Portland stone and stucco dressings, random limestone rubble round tower on S, old red tile roofs. An irregular L-shaped house of 2 storeys and attics entered from E with a tall single-storey Great Hall to right hand with 2 pointed Y-tracery windows and a canted embattled bay window. Gabled entrance bay with octagonal corner buttresses and finials, clock- face in gable, and canted oriel over Tudor arched moulded doorway flanked by narrow pointed windows. 2-storeys range to left with canopied niche between 2-light upper windows, over tall 3-light window. S-front has brick octagonal corner towers and central stone round tower all with battlements and false machicolations. The towers, the range to left of round tower, and the central part of the range to the right all date from c1820. C17 square kitchen block with coursed flint pebble facing at NW, formerly separate and 2 large formerly external chimneys to C17 N-range have tall octagonal shafts with mouldedJaps and bases. Lower rooms in the C17, N and E ranges, with butt-purlin roof structures. Remarkable Gothick Great Hall interior complete with hammer-beam open roof, bay window, chimney piece, and minstrels' gallery. Long rib-vaulted passage in plasterwork. Squared stone floor with black marble dots. Late C17 style staircase next the round tower dates from late C19. Panelled rooms of C18 and early C19. Heraldic cast iron fireback from Cromer Hall (q.v.). (RCHM (1911) 36: VCH (1912) 195: Pevsner (1977) 73: RCHM Typescript).

Listing NGR: TL3012127125