Hamswell House

Hamswell House is a substantial house of 16th-century origin, remodelled in the 17th and early 18th centuries, with the rear facade remodelled in the late 18th century. Alterations and additions were made around 1930 by Harold Brakspear in the same style. The house is built of limestone, rendered at the front, with limestone ashlar and freestone dressings. It has a slate mansard roof with two centrally placed stacks and is arranged on a square plan with a central entrance hall and staircase to the rear. The enfilade is evident at first floor level, although passages at the outer sides of the stacks are now closed.

The facade is composed in a Palladian style with a Renaissance porch. The house displays 2½ storeys and 5 windows. The ground floor has two sashes in moulded architraves and two outer cross windows with ovolo-moulded mullions and transoms in moulded architraves with leaded lights. The central feature is a 2-storey porch breaking forward, containing a double door with a bolection-moulded surround and keystone, flanked by Tuscan columns on a panelled plinth. Above the door is a cornice, a diamond and circle frieze, and a broken segmental pediment. In the tympanum is a shield dated circa 1608, bearing the quartered arms of Whittington and Blanchard, flanked by winged female figures. On each side of the door and shield are tall, round-headed shell niches with architraves decorated with balls. Above is a bay window with a central round-headed window in a moulded architrave with scrolled keystone, small lights above, paired lights to the sides, and lights at the angles to corners, all with leaded lights. A modillion cornice continues across the whole facade, with parapet and coping.

The first floor has four ovolo-moulded cross windows with leaded lights, two to the left blocked from behind, one to the right blocked and painted in. There are three dormers, each with a sash except the central dormer which has a 2-light casement. A string course runs above the ground floor windows. Exposed quoins are visible, and the parapet and coping continue around the porch.

The south east elevation has five windows, all sashes in bolection-moulded architraves. The ground floor windows have a floating cornice. A central French window has a shell hood on brackets carved with acanthus leaves and beasts, in the same architrave. Two basement windows in the same surround are present, one blocked to the right. There are two dormers, the left with a sash and the right with a 2-light casement. A modillion cornice, parapet and coping complete the elevation.

The north west elevation, formerly symmetrical, has five windows. The first floor sashes are in bolection-moulded architraves, with three to the right blocked. The ground floor has a similar sash with a floating cornice to the left. A single-storey addition of circa 1930 contains two 18-pane sashes and a 6-panel door with overlight, with a cornice, parapet and coping. Inside this addition are three similar ground floor windows, now blocked, and a central door in the same architrave with a round head, keystone and flanking pilasters. The main block has a modillion cornice, parapet, coping and three dormers, each with a sash.

The side of the rear wing has two windows, one sash and two 2-light casements with leaded lights. The rear elevation has two canted bays running through two storeys, each with three sashes with eared cills at each storey, except the ground floor left which is blocked for access to the rear wing. A central round-headed opening has a 20th-century door with a glazed upper section with Gothic intersecting glazing bars. A band course is carried around the head of the opening. The first floor has a central round-headed sash with Gothic intersecting glazing bars in the upper section. A modillion cornice, parapet and coping are present, and the tripartite hipped roof has four dormers, three with sashes and one (the second from the right) with a single-light casement.

An original detached single-storey 17th-century kitchen block stands to the rear. This was enlarged and attached to the house around 1930. The block now rises to two storeys with three windows, all 2- and 3-light casements with moulded mullions and leaded lights. There is an oriel to the first floor right with cornice, parapet and coping. Cornice, parapet and coping run overall. The north west elevation of the rear wing retains a rubble wall from the 17th-century block, with one 3-light casement partially blocked, featuring an original casement window with leaded lights and iron stanchions.

The interior is richly detailed. The entrance hall opens to the front left room and has a black and cream stone floor, panelled with modillion cornice and panelled shutters to the windows. An arcade of two round-headed arches on columns with keystones in wood divides the space. A stone fireplace dated 1664 features a moulded Tudor arch, foliate frieze, Corinthian columns to each side, lower and upper cornices each with a keystone, and a broken segmental pediment with an urn in the tympanum, scrolled at the base and top.

The passage to the south east contains a carved wooden shell niche of similar design to the south east door. The wide open-well stair to the rear has splat balusters with rusticated arches between each, a grip handrail, moulded newel tops, and a close-carved string with ball pendants. A small newel stair to the north west rises to attic level. A plain stone winder descends to the cellar.

The first floor landing has four doors, two to rear rooms and two to cupboards, all in bolection-moulded architraves with 6 panels and L-shaped hinges. The first floor rear rooms have friezes and cornices with egg-and-dart mouldings. The room to the south east has a stone bolection-moulded fireplace. The central front room was divided in two around 1930.

The kitchen block originally followed a 2-room plan with a central large stack. The basket arch of the fireplace is visible, and there is a door with a draw bar running from a deep recess in the wall. A vaulted recess lies to the left of the stack.

Hamswell was one of three manors in the parish of Cold Ashton, granted to the priors of Bath by Athelstan in 921 AD (a record of this grant is held in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge). The property was bought by Sir Walter Denys in 1535, leased by Robert Whittington in 1546, bought by William Pepwall, a merchant of Bristol, in 1564, and bought by William Whittington in 1622.