Eynsham Hall And Attached Forecourt Walls

Eynsham Hall and Attached Forecourt Walls

A country house built between 1904 and 1908 by the architect Sir Ernest George for the Mason family. The building is constructed of squared and coursed grey limestone with ruddy-coloured ashlar quoins and dressings. Numerous ruddy-coloured ashlar chimney stacks feature moulded diamond-set flues.

The house is designed in Jacobean style with an H-plan and rises three storeys. The front elevation displays a 1:3:1:3:1 fenestration pattern and is dominated by a three-storey central porch. This frontispiece contains a semi-circular arched doorway with blocked architrave, opening to very finely carved panelled doors decorated with cartouches and a shell tympanum. Above the doorway, Ionic columns rise through the upper storeys and are surmounted by a nowy-headed armorial panel above parapet level. The windows throughout are stone-mullioned and transomed, including a tall stair-light positioned to the left of the porch. Three-storey extruded corners display similar windows, with a balcony above parapet level on the left side, enclosed by a pierced balustrade. The garden front features a matching armorial panel above a central projecting bay, canted bay windows to the end bays, and loggias set within the angles of the side wings. These loggias are detailed with Ionic pilasters, banded ashlar stonework and pierced balustrades. Kitchens are positioned to the left, while a garden porch with loggia stands to the right, both executed in matching style. Attached forecourt walls of similar materials and style feature a balustrade divided by ashlar piers surmounted by lead urns, with end piers to side entries crowned by pyramidal scrolled finials.

Interior

The interior is finely decorated throughout in Jacobean style. The hall contains oak panelling, a stone fireplace, and a strapwork ceiling, with finely panelled doors set in an Ionic doorcase opening to the stair-hall. The stair-hall also features a strapwork ceiling and three service doors on the left. A dog-leg staircase displays a finely carved openwork balustrade with a balcony on the landing and a free-flying second flight.

The room to the rear of the hall has a strapwork ceiling. The library, positioned to the rear of the stair-hall, contains mahogany bookcases which are finely carved, segmental-pedimented doorcases, a fine mid-18th-century coloured marble fireplace, and a plasterwork ceiling in the style of Inigo Jones. Service stairs feature turned balusters.

The Billiard Room occupies the front room of the left wing and is fitted with panelled walls and a deeply moulded strapwork ceiling. It contains a fine French-style chimneypiece with putti holding an armorial cartouche, created by William Frith. The Dining Room in the rear room of the left wing features a panelled and beamed ceiling, red-silk walls, and a very fine mid-18th-century fireplace with a broken pediment set above an Ionic overmantle with two aedicules.

First and second floor rooms contain reset 18th-century and early 19th-century fireplaces, some of considerable quality. Two first-floor rooms above the library feature a fine 19th-century coloured marble fireplace and marquetry framing to fine Oriental Screens of painted birds, designed by Owen Jones around 1872. A room to the right of these contains a moulded stone fireplace, panelling and a strapwork ceiling.

Historical Context

The house was built on the site of a hall erected for the Lacy family in the 1760s. That earlier building was enlarged by Sir Charles Barry around 1843-1845 and subsequently by Owen Jones around 1872, before being demolished in 1903. Georgian fireplaces and the very fine oriental screens by Owen Jones were incorporated into the new house. When completed in 1908, Eynsham Hall was equipped with its own waterworks, gas plant, electric generating station and private telephone links serving all parts of the estate.