Netherby Hall

Netherby Hall is a large house with a complex history, dating back to a 15th-century tower house. It was extended and altered significantly in 1639 for Sir Richard Graham, as evidenced by a reused datestone bearing his initials over the entrance to the left. Further substantial additions were made in the late 18th century for Rev Robert Graham, and again in 1833 by the architect William Burn, for Sir James Graham. The tower, which originally stood as a fortified structure, is now incorporated within the larger house and has walls over 2 metres thick; the walls are thought to be built from stone sourced from a nearby Roman fort. The later extensions are constructed of red sandstone ashlar on a chamfered plinth, featuring flush quoins, string courses, a moulded cornice, and solid parapets. Slate roofs cover the structure, and there are numerous stone chimney stacks. The house exhibits a Scottish Baronial style in its later additions.

The 19th-century polygonal entrance tower boasts a three-panel double door set within a round moulded arch and featuring a radial fanlight. It is flanked by alternate block pilasters supporting a moulded entablature and cornice, surmounted by a carved coat of arms. Sash windows with two panes are set within moulded architraves featuring false keystones and triangular open pediments with decorative cartouches. A three-storey tower to the right forms the original core of the house and has a 19th-century facade. A niche on the ground floor contains a carved stone figure of a knight in armour, while an oriel window with two panes is positioned above. The parapet is corbelled out with a round angle turret, a crow-stepped gable, a carved coat of arms, and triple candlestick chimney stacks. Lower flanking wings feature sash windows with two panes in alternate block surrounds and false keystones. An old servants’ hall to the extreme right, of two storeys and three bays, has a six-panel door within a round-arched recess and two crow-stepped dormers with domed circular turrets.

The 18th-century garden front comprises two storeys and five recessed bays, flanked by two-storey canted bay windows. Large sash windows with two panes are on the ground floor, while single-pane sashes are above, all set within surrounds similar to those of the entrance front. There are attic oculi. Flanking wings, one and a half storeys high with lead-hipped roofs covered in graduated green slate, have a central window and a rounded window above within a round-arched recess, all set in plain surrounds.

The interior features mid- to late-18th-century moulded plasterwork on recesses and ceilings, and panelled doors in moulded wooden architraves with triangular moulded pediments. The tower retains its original newel staircase. Significant alterations were made to the ground floor of the tower in 1937 by H.J. Harding. Reused 17th-century carved Flemish panelling adorns the hall and dining room, complemented by a heavily moulded ceiling created by William Burn. Armorial stained glass by Willement, dating from 1836, is found in the hall. William Burn’s drawings for Netherby Hall are held in the RIBA collection.