Loudham Hall

A country house with a 16th-century core, greatly altered around 1750 and further modified during the 18th century. The building is constructed in red Flemish bond brick with a slate roof.

The entrance front is particularly impressive, presenting two storeys with an additional attic level. It comprises 11 bays arranged in a symmetrical rhythm of A.A.B.B.C.C.C.B.B.A.A. The original design featured two projecting wings at the outer bays. The central three bays project slightly and are executed in rubbed brick with chamfered rustication at ground floor level. A central doorway contains double doors, each with four recessed panels and a moulded surround. To either side are sash windows of 3x4 panes with splayed quintuple keystones above. A band of four bricks depth separates the floors, supporting four Ionic pilasters. Between these pilasters are sash windows of 3x4 panes with splayed heads and projecting keystones, topped by an entablature and pediment. A domed clock face occupies the centre of the tympanum. The flanking pairs of bays have slightly projecting plinths with 3x4 pane sashes to both floors. A band of five bricks depth separates the floors here, with a band of four bricks below the deep parapet. The first floor is slightly taller than the ground floor. The roof is gable-ended with three-flue chimneys to either gable end, largely concealed by the parapet.

Both flanking sides of the house are two storeys, shorter than the entrance front, with correspondingly deep parapets. The right-hand side includes a five-bay projecting portion with projecting quoins at ground floor corners. Brickwork bands between floors and recessed panels in the deep parapet (some possibly former windows) are visible. A doorway with a half-glazed door and dummy overlight stands to the left, with a dummy top to the adjacent window. Three windows of 3x4 panes stand to the right of this doorway. The central first-floor window is blank, with 3x4 sash windows to either side. A further three bays to the left have standard sash windows save for the upper left window, which is blank.

The left-hand side features two bays at right with 3x4 sash windows, except for the ground floor right which is blank. Additional blank panels rise to the parapet, which ramps upward at right with ashlar coping. A slightly projecting range to the left has two tall storeys and a shallow parapet similar to the entrance front. This section contains two arched bays to each floor (those at right being blank, the lower left containing a doorway with fanlight). Between and flanking these arches are narrow 2x4 pane windows creating a doubled Venetian window effect. The doorway comprises six raised and fielded panels. Recessed to the left is a three-bay range with a doorway at left and two 3x4 pane sash windows to its right. Two similar windows occupy the first floor, with a blank panel at left, topped by a deep parapet.

The rear elevation features a three-bay projecting wing at right with blocked central ground and first floor right-hand windows; remaining windows are 3x4 sash panes. Four recessed bays stand to the left, with a wide projecting single bay at far left.

Interior features are substantial. The entrance hall is fitted with painted pine panelling in two tiers of raised and fielded panels divided by a chair rail, with similarly moulded panelled shutters. The far wall contains a screen of two Corinthian columns with pilaster responds to rear and side walls. Beyond the screen, the hall opens via wide side niches with central double doors and fanlights onto an axial corridor. Both spaces feature stone flags laid in a diamond pattern.

The dining room displays richly moulded fluted cornice and coved niches of late 18th-century character with central six-panel doors. The chimney piece is a 20th-century insertion with bolection moulding.

The drawing room features a neo-classical marble chimney piece with fluted frieze and pilasters bearing laurel wreaths. The central oval panel depicts a reclining female figure holding dividers and a cherub bearing a scroll, with a landscape and pyramid in the background. The frieze displays palmettes; at the rear, early 18th-century or late 17th-century panelling is evident.

The main staircase comprises two flights with richly moulded tread ends, spiral on vase balusters, and a richly moulded handrail terminating in a wreathed curtail with an Ionic column newel post. Raised and fielded dado panelling ramps up to the landings with the handrail. The long wide axial corridor at first floor level is accessed by a small staircase with similarly moulded balustrade. This corridor's panelling matches that of the central ground floor hall; its scale and position suggest it may be the 16th-century long gallery of the original house, remodelled. Two front rooms at first floor retain dado panelling. The back staircase comprises four flights with moulded handrail and plain newels with bun finials.