Hannington Hall

Hannington Hall is a large house dating from 1653, built by Raufe and William Freke, sons of Sir Thomas Freke who had purchased the estate in 1605. It may incorporate elements of an earlier parsonage. The house was remodelled in the 1830s for Colonel Henry Freke, with the addition of a front porch, a bow window, a French Drawing Room, and an orangery. A service wing was added to the east side in 1863, although a larger portion of this wing was removed in 1963.

The east front is likely very close to its original appearance, although it lacks an entrance if one ever existed. It is characterised by five bays, with a two-storey angled bay in the centre. Flanking gables have weathered coping and adjacent bays possibly added in 1697, as evidenced by rainwater heads. A long inscription below the parapet of the central five bays celebrates the brotherly love of William and Raufe Freke, incorporating two panels of devices. The house features large chimneys with diagonal shafts. The outer two bays on each side have mullion windows with drips, and relieving arches in the gables – a later 17th-century local characteristic. The inner three bays have large mullioned and transomed windows. Two bays were added in 1863 to match the existing east wing.

The south side of the house, substantially altered around 1836, has a central porch break with a moulded Tudor archway and a three-light window above. Flanking angled bays display shields between the floors. The orangery projects forward on the left side; it has panelled pilasters, a balustraded parapet, and is inscribed "Henricus Freke c.B.1836". The French Drawing Room, in a Louis XV style and containing six medallion paintings by Captain Willes-Johnson R.N. (who inherited the house in 1848), is located at the rear of the house, adjacent to the orangery.

Much of the interior was remodelled by Colonel Henry Freke in the 1830s, including a four-centred ornamental panelled hall-vault with pendants and decorative vaults in other rooms, and a top-lit staircase. The staircase hall contains a late 16th/early 17th-century fireplace with a carved overmantel from Bristol. A plain Adam-style fireplace, originally from Wroughton House, is in the south-east room. The dining room has heavy Jacobean ornamentation designed by Sir Harold Brakespeare in 1924.