Blickling Hall

Blickling Hall is a country house built between 1619 and 1627 for Sir Henry Hobart, Lord Chief Justice, to designs by the surveyor Robert Lyminge. It was substantially remodelled between 1765 and 1785 by the Norwich architects Thomas and William Ivory. The hall is constructed of red brick with stone and stucco dressings, with roofs of plain tile and pantile incorporating lead domes to corner turrets. The building ranges from 2½ to 4 storeys in height.

The original plan consisted of a double courtyard entered from the south and open to the north. The south front comprises seven bays, with the outer bays occupied by square corner turrets crowned with ogee lead-covered domes. Bays 2, 4 and 6 rise three storeys and feature shaped gables to their attics, with canted two-storey bay windows having pierced parapets. Strapwork pediments ornament the upper windows. Windows throughout are characterised by ovolo-moulded mullion and transom frames with leaded glazing and iron casements. The principal first-floor windows have two transoms and enriched heads incorporating strapwork, balustrading or pediments, set slightly proud of the wall face. A frieze band with triglyphs and guttae appears above the ground-floor window heads.

The central entrance is approached via a stone bridge spanning the former moat, featuring a pierced stone parapet with square piers surmounted by Hobart bulls supporting shields. Two brick arches with stone dressings pass beneath. The entrance itself comprises an oak screen with raised and fielded panels—six to the doors and six to the screen—with three lintel panels above dated 1620. A semicircular fanlight with pierced wood and iron screen surmounts the door. The doorway is flanked by two Doric columns supporting a frieze of bulls' heads; the central keystone bears figure carving, while the spandrels are carved with female figures holding wreaths. An entablature with heraldry crowns the composition. The central first-floor window of 12 lights is flanked by Ionic pilasters with blocking; figures of Justice and Truth stand upon the balustrade above. Moulded coping to the parapet and gables incorporates figures on keyblocks at gable peaks.

The central clock tower is a reconstruction by John Adey Repton dating to around 1830, finished in stucco and colourwash. Its lower stage displays pedimented windows between pilasters with block decoration supporting a decorated frieze. The clock stage features tapering Ionic pilasters with strapwork embellishment to the clock face and window openings. An octagonal open-sided lantern with lead-covered ogee dome and finial carries a weather vane. Two large symmetrically-placed chimney stacks, each comprising eight octagonal shafts with star tops and moulded bases, dominate the roofline. Nineteenth-century arcaded screens at the south-east and south-west corners link the hall to service ranges.

The east facade contains nine bays between the corner turrets, with rainwater heads dated 1620. Projecting bay windows occupy bays 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9, canted in bays 1, 3 and 5. Stone ovolo-moulded mullion and transom windows with leaded glazing appear throughout, some fitted with iron lattice frames. Above the bays, shaped attic gables incorporate three-light windows. A continuous band of triglyphs decorates the area above ground-floor window heads. The corner turrets are embellished with pedimented doorways of semicircular-arched form; those on the east front feature blocked pilasters and entablatures bearing arms. An eaves parapet with stone coping runs the length of the facade, with gable peaks supporting keyblocks and figure finials.

The north front was remodelled by William Ivory around 1779, though the corner turrets and the left-hand shaped gable survive from the original construction. The central three bays are slightly advanced with mullion and transom windows projecting from the wall face beneath pediments. The triglyphic frieze continues above ground-floor window heads. A stone eaves cornice with balustrade runs across this elevation. The flanking bays feature shaped gables and two-storey square projections with large five-light windows and pierced stone parapets; the first-floor windows retain their characteristic two transoms.

The west facade was rebuilt by Thomas and William Ivory and is dated 1769. It comprises thirteen bays, bays 1 and 13 being the square corner turrets. Bays 4, 7 and 10 feature shaped gables to the attic storey, with eaves parapets, coping and finials matching those on the east facade. Windows are generally ovolo-moulded casements of two or three lights with leaded glazing, though some first-floor windows have been reglazed. Transoms and pediments ornament the first-floor windows, all set slightly forward of the wall face. The central entrance bay is particularly elaborate: the first-floor window displays a strapwork pediment, and below it a panel commemorates the bequest of Mary Ann, Countess of Buckinghamshire, towards the erection of the facade in 1769. An attic window on a scrolled base with finials crowns this composition.

The interior contains very fine and elaborate spaces fully described in the National Trust guidebook. The original staircase was extended and reconstructed in its new position in 1767 by Thomas Ivory, featuring elaborately carved newels with figure finials on pedestals, square tapering balusters with Ionic caps and arcading below the handrail, and strapwork between baluster feet.

The hall is in the care of the National Trust.