Halswell House And Attached Outbuildings At Rear

Halswell House and Attached Outbuildings at Rear

A country house set in parkland, now converted to flats. The house comprises two distinct periods of construction. The south range dates to the 16th century and was built for Sir Nicholas Halswell, constructed of random rubble with some colourwashed sections and slate roofs, with brick and rubble stacks. The main north range was built in 1689 for Sir Halswell Tynte, retaining the earlier south range as service quarters. The north range is built of Ham Hill ashlar with a flat bitumenised roof and stucco on the returns.

The north range suffered partial destruction by fire around 1922, after which the fabric was restored and the interior refurbished. The house was converted to flats with internal division, particularly to the south, around 1950.

The north front presents an imposing Baroque composition of three storeys arranged as 2:3:2 bays, with the outer bays set in shallow wings. The design employs rusticated quoins, a ramped plinth band, first floor band, first floor sill band, second floor band, and a band over the heads of second floor windows, topped with a cornice and baluster parapet. Sash windows with glazing bars are throughout; those on the second floor have square heads in architraves. The centre windows on the first floor are paired, a modification of the 18th century. Windows to the wings have segmental heads and architraves, while the outer windows of the centre bays display semi-circular heads with elaborate architraves and foliate panels above those on the first floor.

The centrepiece of the composition is highly ornate. A stepped-forward window at the centre of the main range is emphasised with an eared architrave and is flanked by three sets of pilasters: the inner pair carved with foliage, the centre pair with scrolled volutes supporting an open triangular pediment. A moulded keystone supports a large painted cartouche with swags on either side. Below this centrepiece are paired three-quarter glazed doors set within a semi-circular headed recess with a fanlight displaying radiating glazing bars. The doors are flanked by trophies and rusticated pilasters stepped back in three stages; the centre is marked by a quarter column supporting a deep cornice that forms a narrow balcony, which formerly had iron rails, now missing.

The returns are treated in similar style. The left return consists of five bays; the ground floor features rustication with sash windows with glazing bars, while the first floor has moulded architraves with cornices, the centre window bearing a triangular pediment and a baluster panel below. The right return comprises three bays with sash windows with glazing bars; the centre window on the first floor has a semi-circular head within a square head architrave, topped by a dentil cornice with a baluster panel set below. Eighteenth-century single-storey bays occupy the ground floor on the right, with cornices between them, a semi-circular headed door opening in a rusticated surround, and a half-glazed door.

The south range is contiguous and of irregular plan, with two storeys and an attic. It features stone-mullioned windows with stopped labels (many renewed), leaded lights, and relieving arches. Doors are set within flat-pointed and four-centred arch stone frames. A wall attached to the right return of the north front obscures the service quarters, with an emphasised door opening and two niches.

The interior of the service wing retains domestic fittings including a range of cupboards on the ground floor. The north range contains elaborate plaster and woodwork, much executed in replica following the fire damage. A large open-well staircase features twisted balusters, a ramped handrail, and panelled newel posts. The stairwell ceiling is ornamental plaster in the Baroque style, decorated with wreathing, cartouches, cherubs, and corner pilasters. The ground floor dining room has a ceiling with ribs, garlands, intertwined branches, and a dentil cornice. On the first floor, a room to the east features a further Baroque ceiling ornamented with a centre wreath with enframing panels, accompanied by chinoiserie wallpaper. The centre rooms on the ground and first floors are more restrained, with the ground floor displaying fielded panelling. Three fine 18th-century chimney pieces are present; in the room on the right of the ground floor, the chimney piece was removed and a 16th-century plaster overmantel reset above a doorway connecting the house and service wing.