Shirley Hall

Shirley Hall

Large house, now subdivided into flats, probably dating from the early 19th century. The building is stuccoed with a slate roof featuring lead rolls and chimney stacks with yellow brick shafts.

The main block faces east with an approximately square double-depth plan and an off-centre entrance on the east side. A second block adjoins on the north side, with a single-storey wing, possibly a former billiard room, to the east facing south. The exact arrangement of the interior plan remains unclear as the interior was not inspected at the time of survey.

The main block rises to two storeys with an attic, while the north wing is two storeys and the billiard room is single storey. The main block features chamfered quoins, a moulded sill band at first floor level, and a platband below the eaves. The eaves are deep with a moulded eaves cornice carried on paired shaped brackets. The windows on the ground and first floors are glazed with probably late 19th or early 20th-century two-pane horned plate glass sashes. The roofs are hipped. The chimney shafts have moulded cornices and trefoil panels to their ends.

The east front is asymmetrical with four bays. The entrance is in the first bay from the left, which projects forward with rusticated quoins. An Ionic portico with paired columns and an entablature supports a parapet featuring sections of pierced circles with interlocking mouldings. The front door comprises two leaves, each with four panels, the upper panels glazed with decorative leaded glass. The doorcase is pilastered with ornate consoles and is flanked by similar glazed panels. The ground floor windows have moulded cornices on consoles with recesses below the sills. The first floor windows have moulded architraves and segmental pediments except for the window above the porch, which is a tripartite sash with a floating cornice over the centre light. Four pedimented dormers to the first floor are glazed with four-pane sashes.

The south return is a five-bay elevation with symmetrical layout. The centre three bays project forward with chamfered quoins. The ground floor features windows matching those on the east front, with a central French window. The three centre openings have consoles supporting a continuous cornice that forms a shallow balcony to the first floor windows, with balustrade matching the porch parapet. The three centre first floor windows have segmental arches and eared architraves in stucco, the architraves rising as nowy-headed panels over the lintels. The outer first floor windows have segmental pediments. Attic dormers match those on the east front, with a triple attic dormer in the centre.

The rear (north) elevation of the main block comprises seven bays in a plainer style, with double and triple dormers and three axial stacks of various sizes. The two-bay east elevation of the north wing has a parapet and two windows with segmental pediments. In front of it stands a five-bay conservatory, divided by Ionic pilasters with tall paired round-headed windows to each bay. Steps lead up to a central doorway with a two-leaf door in matching style. The parapet matches that on the porch and a glazed roof sits behind. The billiard room wing comprises three bays with a fourth bay at the junction with the north wing. It has a moulded cornice below the parapet, supported on consoles. Steps lead up to a central French window.

The interior was not available for inspection at the time of survey, but features of interest may survive.