Bradfield Hall, Adjoining Kitchen Block And Adjoining Garden Wall

Bradfield Hall, Adjoining Kitchen Block And Adjoining Garden Wall

Bradfield Hall is a house dating from around 1700 and 1763, with additions of approximately 1900, and reduced by one storey in the mid-20th century. It is constructed in red brick with gauged window heads throughout.

The north front is the principal elevation. It features a plat band to the left between ground floor and mezzanine, a bracketed stone cornice, a parapet with stone coping and corner urns, and a triangular pediment over two bays to the left with a stone cartouche in the tympanum. There is an end stack to the left and a stack to the front offset to the right. The building rises 2 storeys across 5 bays, with glazing bar sashes with exposed wooden boxes.

Two projecting bays to the left contain two flattened arched first floor windows with keystones, imposts, and Gothick glazing bars, together with two oval mezzanine windows with keystones and arched ground floor window to the left with fluted keystone and Gothick glazing bars. An arched doorway to the right has a fluted keystone, Gothick fanlight, two 20th-century half-glazed doors, and a Doric porch with two unfluted columns, two half columns, triglyph frieze and cornice. To the right are 3 bays set back, containing two first floor glazing bar sashes to the left and one first floor painted glazing bar sash to the right. A projecting ground floor features a coped parapet, domed oval lead roof with gold finial, and 3 arched windows with fluted keystones. The right-hand return wall of the left-hand block has a 2-storey bow with a three-ogee leaded light first floor window.

The south front is of red brick with gauged window heads, pilaster strips flanking each unevenly spaced pair of outer bays, a stone cornice, and a stone-coped parapet with corner urns. A central canted bay has a stone plinth, stone plat band and cill plat bands, and stone balustrading beneath windows. The elevation rises 2 storeys with glazing bar sashes, two on the first floor to the right with exposed wooden boxes. A central arched ground floor sash extends to floor level with a rusticated stone architrave. Flanking windows have rusticated brick arched heads, and there are ground floor arched windows in two bays to the left and right.

The east front features two 2-storey bows with coped parapets and irregularly placed mullioned and transomed leaded windows.

The adjoining kitchen block extends to the east and is constructed of red brick with a moulded brick eaves cornice to a hipped old tile roof. A stack rises to the north, and a central hexagonal bellcote with 6 columns supports an ogee lead cap with ball finial; clocks are set on the base to north and south. The block rises 2 storeys and basement across 3 bays with glazing bar sashes. On the south front are three first floor ogee-headed windows with Gothick glazing bars, and two large ground floor windows flanking a central arched entrance with a small oval window above. Flanking 2-storey bays have one glazing bar sash on each floor.

An adjoining garden wall projects to the west, approximately 20 metres long and 2.5 metres high, constructed of red brick with stone coping. It curves to the north with a stone-coped end pier. The north front contains a round-arched blank opening to the right with a gauged brick head and fluted keystone, and a round-arched doorway to the left with a gauged brick head, fluted keystone, and boarded door with painted Gothick tympanum.

The interior dates from around 1700 and the mid-18th century. The entrance hall has a three-bay groin vault with a frieze of bucrania and wreaths, and a deep cornice with paterae and guttae. The staircase hall is a double-height space with a skylight, containing a three-flight square well staircase with wrought iron balustrade and a Corinthian doorcase leading to the Saloon. The Saloon is a double-height room with a balustraded gallery on Tuscan columns, a fireplace with large console brackets, and a central oval painting in the ceiling possibly by François Clermont, surrounded by rich plasterwork including fishes, birds and fruit. The Dining room contains a plaster ceiling and an Ionic fireplace. The Library retains contemporary bookcases. Many other rooms contain contemporary mouldings and doorcases, including one bedroom with two swan-neck pedimented doorcases.