Bradfield House

Bradfield House

Substantial country house in Uffculme, the seat of the Walrond family from the 13th century to the 20th century and now serving as a boys' school. The building represents successive phases of domestic architecture from the early 16th century onwards.

The earliest surviving part is the early to mid 16th-century hall, probably completed during the reign of Edward VI. Evidence includes the inscription "VIVAT E REX" painted on the dais end wall. The hall is aligned north to south and was originally entered through a south-east porch at the screen's passage end, with a retiring room forming a small wing at the north-east, dais end.

Between circa 1592 and 1604, marked by two datestones, the building underwent radical transformation although the interior of the hall remained intact. The higher end was adapted to form a cross-wing containing the drawing and dining rooms, with principal bedrooms above.

The service end was substantially rebuilt in 1861 when Sir John Hayward, the architect, was engaged to design a new entrance front forming a cross-wing to the south of the hall and to add a service block to the west. Hayward retained or repaired much of the early 17th-century fenestration elsewhere in the building but, for structural stability reasons, replaced the great eight-light east window of the hall with two four-light windows. He added two large internal lateral stacks to the north front to act as buttresses. Hayward's careful restoration of the hall roof and internal wall decorations was described by him in an article in the Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society.

The building is constructed of random rubble limestone with Beerstone dressings and has gable-end dry slate roofs. It is heated by tall axial, end and lateral stacks. The house comprises two storeys with a three-storey south porch and stands on slightly falling ground allowing for a basement to the north side.

The south entrance front, designed by Hayward in the style of the rest of the house of circa 1600, is symmetrical with five bays and a central three-storey projecting porch. The round-headed entrance arch features keyblocks, Doric columns on moulded plinths with ribbed decorative panels and entablature. This appears to be a copy of the original entrance into the south-east hall porch which existed in 1903–4 but is now gone. The side bays are separately gabled with two-storey bay windows. All windows have ovolo-moulded surrounds, transoms and mullions. All principal angles have moulded cap finials on polygonal buttresses. West of this range, recessed from it, is an informal service block forming an asymmetrical six-window range.

The east front, the original main front, is now symmetrical as a result of Hayward's south cross-wing balancing the 17th-century north range. These cross-wings, together with the 16th-century porch and dais end retiring room, are separately gabled. The wings feature two-storey bay windows to the east. All other windows are of three or four lights with stone ovolo-moulded transoms and surrounds, mostly renewed by Hayward.

The rear north range comprises four bays, each separately gabled, with dominant internal lateral stacks by Hayward. The three- and four-light ovolo-moulded windows are either early 17th-century originals or carefully copied replacements.

Interior

The 16th-century work includes the hall, which spans four bays and features a fine hammerbeam roof with moulded arched braces, collars and rainposts with pendants. The moulded wall plate has a cornice. There are three sets of moulded purlins with cusped windbraces and subordinate braces. The roof is among the finest of its kind in Devon, stylistically comparable to that at Weare Gifford. The screen has a gallery above with two entrances into the hall under paired round-headed arches divided by fluted pilasters with panels between bearing double ribbed decorative work. The gallery parapet features elaborate armorial reliefs. The hall is lined with linenfold panelling; the cornice is made up of heads and grotesques with primitive Renaissance detailing. Window reveals contain 16th-century painted coats of arms uncovered by Hayward. The dais end wall is painted with two large standing figures against a foliage background and the legend "VIVAT E REX".

The early 17th-century work includes the drawing room, celebrated for its richly carved panelling, overmantel and internal porch. This work has been covered over for protection and was not visible at the time of survey in November 1985. Published illustrations and descriptions confirm that this is an interior of the highest importance. The dining room panelling is less elaborate and appears to have been largely restored by Hayward.

The 1860s work by Hayward in the entrance range includes plaster ceilings in the style of circa 1600 and chimneypieces using detailing and motifs found elsewhere in the building. This work is of considerable intrinsic merit.