Ketteringham Hall

Ketteringham Hall is a country house that originated in the late 16th century and was substantially remodelled in the Gothick style around 1839. The hall and conservatory were added by architect Thomas Allason for Sir John Boileau, with further additions and alterations carried out in 1852 by Thomas Jeckell. The building is constructed of brick, formerly colour-washed, with plain tile roofing.

The principal north-east facade is symmetrical, comprising nine bays over two storeys with an attic storey, beneath a hipped roof concealed behind an embattled parapet. A double string course with sawtooth cornice to the parapet extends to the returns and across the 16th-century wings, continuing to a pediment over the central three bays. Clasping polygonal angle buttresses with embattled turrets rise above the parapet. The central three bays are articulated by square pilasters that rise above the parapet with pyramidal caps and an embattled pediment. A canted porch to the ground floor has a flat roof with quatrefoil panels to its parapet and buttresses at the porch angles rising to crocketted pinnacles. The central cant is of limestone ashlar with a Gothick doorway bearing shields in its spandrels inscribed with the initials IPB and CSB (John Peter Boileau and Catherine Boileau). Gothick lights with Y tracery in wood flank the porch entry. A stone shield to the pediment over a blocked light displays the Boileau arms with many quarters. Ground floor bays 1–3 and 7–9 contain tall openings beneath square hood moulds with three Gothick-headed lights with wooden mullions; the first floor has similar openings of two lights, with the central bay containing three lights. To the rear, three stacks of linked octagonal shafts (four, four, and three shafts respectively) probably date to the 16th century, though they were rebuilt with 19th-century caps.

A recessed single bay to the right of the main facade, dating to around 1840, has a tall ground floor opening of two lights with Gothick glazing bars above the transom, with a frieze between floors matching the parapet design.

The hall of 1840, attached to the right, is in Perpendicular style, constructed of brick and formerly colour-washed, with a gable to the front and angle buttresses. Crocketted pinnacles occur at the angles and along the returns, with a parapet extending to the returns and gable. A large six-light Perpendicular-style window to the front gable has stone mullions and panel tracery. A datestone to the gable reads VICTORIA / 1840. The interior contains a large Gothic fireplace to the south-east. The hall was erected to accommodate social events for the Boileau family and their servants and tenantry.

The south-east facade is divided into three parts. To the left, a conservatory dating to around 1840 is rendered and single-storey, with five bays in Perpendicular style and a gable to the left return. Its parapet has pinnacles at the angles and articulating the bays. Five four-centred openings with intersecting glazing bars are present, with the centre bay opening to the ground with glazed doors. The left return contains a blank quatrefoil above a three-light opening matching the south-east facade pattern but with the central light reaching to ground as a door. Attached to the left is a gazebo in rendered brick with a four-centred arch recessing into it and angle buttresses with crocketted pinnacles. The rear wall bears a large marble lozenge of arms impaling Walpole, as Mrs Charlotte Atkins (who owned the property from 1794 to 1835) bore these arms.

At the centre is a 16th-century three-storey wing with a parapet of around 1839 and polygonal buttresses with turrets to left and right matching the north-east facade. The gable return was altered in 1852. Two bays and a central chimney bay are present, the latter containing a large axial stack with four linked octagonal shafts and sawtooth cornice. The left bay has Gothick openings to each floor, including a two-light Gothick opening to the ground floor chimney bay (now a stair). The right bay is now of two storeys with a large canted bay window with embattled parapet of around 1839 and Gothick lights, facing the steps of the terrace. The south-west facade shows the gables of 16th-century wings to left and right, with the centre infilled by Jeckell in 1852. Both gables have clasping buttresses as found on the rest of the house; their crowstepped parapets were rebuilt in 1852, that to the left with a tall finial and that to the right with an external stack bearing double octagonal shafts. Attic lights were inserted to the right gable in the 19th century, while the left gable had its openings changed to Gothick style. A five-bay central infill of library to the first floor has an embattled parapet with Boileau arms to the central gablet; the first floor contains three cross windows flanked by single lights, while the ground floor is similar but has 20th-century additions.

The right-hand facade is the return of the double north-east range, comprising two bays over two storeys and an attic beneath a hipped roof with two dormers of three and four lights behind the parapet. Polygonal buttresses occur to left and right. Openings match the north-east facade pattern, with two to each floor of the left bay and the ground floor of the right bay containing two two-light openings with a third between them, all with Gothick lights matching the recessed bay to the right of the north-east facade.

The interior contains an imperial staircase of the early 19th century at the centre of the 16th-century north-east range, with stone steps, cast iron balusters, and a wreathed mahogany handrail curved and ramped. A tall oriel stair-window of 1844 is set behind a 13th-century style shafted arch with mullioned and transomed lights bearing fragments of Flemish stained glass depicting biblical scenes, including rondels of Moses in the bullrushes and Daniel in the lion's den dated 1573.

A room to the right of the north-east range has panelled walls and a central black marble fireplace. The south-east wing contains a 16th-century stack to the second and attic floors. The ground floor of the 16th-century north-west wing displays jewel stepped tie beams. The ground floor and library of the 1852 range have panelled ceilings; two relief marbles to the ground floor depict scenes of French history involving Boileau ancestors, and the library contains a Gothick fireplace with ivy tendril and rose briar spray to its spandrels.