Melton Constable Hall

Melton Constable Hall is a country house of Grade I importance, built between 1664 and 1670 by Sir Jacob Astley, 1st Baronet, to replace an earlier house of around 1500. The hall remained in direct male succession within the Astley family from 1236 until its sale by the 20th Lord Hastings in 1956. The architectural style represents domestic classicism as introduced from the Netherlands by the Webb-May-Wren circle, though no architect is recorded.

The main block is constructed of red brick with stone, stucco, wood and lead dressings, with slated and copper roofs. It follows a double pile plan with extensions to the east and north, presenting nine-bay fronts to north and south with seven-bay returns.

The north (entrance) front displays a stuccoed half basement with stone-dressed two-light casements now filled in. The central three bays project forward while the outer three bays recede. Ground and first floor windows are stone-dressed with stone aprons; the original casements have been replaced with sashes. The ground floor central windows of the outer bays have pediments. A central doorway features three-part raised and fielded double doors with a fanlight, surmounted by a segmental stone pediment on console brackets. Rusticated stone quoins emphasise both the central three bays and outer bays. A stone plinth runs at ground floor level and a stone platband at first floor. The eaves are trimmed with a richly cut wooden modillion cornice incorporating a central pediment filled with a coat of arms and swags. Two central and two outer segmental pedimented dormers alternate with two outer triangular pedimented dormers; all are fitted with sashes with glazing bars.

The south front follows a similar bay system and detailing but includes blind boxes to the windows and stone perron stairs with wrought iron railings. A central mid-18th-century doorway features three-part raised and fielded double doors set within a stone architrave with fluted Ionic half-columns and a pediment above.

The west front displays two outer bays and three central bays brought forward. On the ground floor sits a three-bay Ionic portico dating to 1757, rising from a stone basement with balustrade between the order entablature and an upper balustrade. Two segmental pedimented dormers flank a large fan-shaped window positioned in the valley between the roofs to light the staircase.

The east front features three central ground floor bays projecting as a bow, containing three stone-dressed arched-headed windows. Above sits an oculus window, with two three-light dormers to either side. North and south hipped roofs slope down to four large brick stacks with stone copings, set back into the valley.

The interior contains significant plaster work ceilings from around 1687 in the ground floor room at the south west, the former chapel, and the first floor room at the north east, as well as above the main staircase. The plaster work is richly cut with naturalistic detail in compartmented ceilings, apparently modelled in situ. The main staircase, positioned at the west, features a carved string with two barley-sugar balusters to each riser and a panelled dado. It rises as a dog-leg to the first floor where an isolated gallery with matching details crosses the stairwell at attic level. A secondary staircase at the north east serves basement and ground floor levels with Corinthian column newels arranged as a newel staircase with a bolection-moulded string and rectangular balusters, rising to the attics with a separate dog-leg branch leading to the first floor.

The south range's ground floor rooms display mid-19th-century detailing in the central and south-east rooms, the latter containing a pair of green scagliola columns. The south-west room retains mid-18th-century fireplaces. The former chapel, positioned on axis with the staircase, contains a mid-18th-century fireplace. The north pile includes a mid-18th-century panelled room at the east, a panelled hall, and a north-west room decorated in the Greek Revival style around 1820, with a ceiling featuring anthemions and related ornament.

To the east stands a service wing of one and a half storeys with half basement and attics. It spans nine bays with a central three-bay portico. The basement has two-light casements with glazing bars; the first floor and attic contain sashes with glazing bars. The Ionic portico rises from a balustrade between columns, topped with a modillion cornice and pediment bearing a crest and motto cartouche. Two segmental and two triangular-headed dormers sit above, with four ridge stacks.

Further east extends a five-bay wing with three central bays brought forward beneath a pediment displaying a heraldic cartouche that echoes the south front of the main block. The ground floor has five casements and the first floor five sashes, with two segmental-headed dormers. All downpipes bear the date 1887, indicating a supposed refacing of a wing originally constructed in 1810. A further three-bay wing dating to 1926 extends to the east.