Bettisfield Hall

Bettisfield Hall

This substantial house comprises an L-plan arrangement of an early-17th-century main range with later additions. The main range is three storeys tall, constructed in brick with a tile roof and faces west. A lower south-west wing of two-and-a-half storeys in brick with a coped gable completes the original L-plan. Behind these stands a 19th-century east wing connected by a link to a former dairy on the north side.

The west-facing front is the principal elevation. The central entrance is sheltered by an early 19th-century lean-to porch with a replacement window and panel door, the lower two panels of which are flush. To the left of the porch is a two-light window in its original opening. The middle storey contains a two-light wooden mullioned and transomed window to the left and a four-light window of the same type to the right, both in original openings. Stone surrounds with moulded cornices frame the original openings on the lower and middle storeys. The upper storey has three brick-mullioned cross windows to the left of the wing.

The south gable end of the main range features a doorway with a Tudor-headed arch and a boarded and studded door. To its right is an inserted three-light casement window with leaded lights. The middle storey has an inserted window on the left, while the upper storey contains a blocked doorway that suggests the building may originally have extended further south. The north gable end displays an inserted two-light window in the lower storey and a three-light window in the upper storey with brick mullions and transoms.

The rear east elevation is asymmetrical. A massive lateral external brick stack sits to the right of centre, though its lower section is obscured by the later east wing. To the left of this wing is a single-storey lean-to. Like the west front, original window openings retain stone surrounds with moulded cornices at the middle storey level. The middle storey contains a three-light small-pane window on the left side within a taller original opening (now lacking its stone surround), a single-light window, and a two-light window (originally three-light) that is obscured by the east wing. On the other side of the wing, the rear wall has a single-light window retaining its original drip mould, with another single window below it in a brick surround. The upper storey displays three brick-mullioned cross windows to the left of the stack and one more to its right.

The south-west wing's north wall has an inserted three-light wood-framed mullioned and transomed window in the lower storey. In the upper storey on the left side is an original three-light window that is blocked above the original transom and retains stone mullions; below the transom the mullions have been removed and the opening is blocked in brick. The gable end contains a three-light wood-framed mullioned and transomed window fitted within the surround of an original three-light mullioned and transomed window, which is blocked above the level of the former transom. A smaller attic cross window is a later insertion. The south side has three-light small-pane metal casements in each storey, a sawtooth frieze, and an eaves stack to the left side.

The 19th-century east wing is two storeys tall, built of brick with a slate roof on dentil eaves and a brick ridge stack. Its three-window north front features a replacement door to the left of centre and three-light small-pane casement windows under segmental heads in the lower storey. The three-window south wall has two-light and three-light small-pane casements and a recently added porch at the right end. Further right is a single-storey projection with two two-light windows.

At right angles on the north-east side of the east wing is a single-storey link to a former two-storey dairy and cheese room (now called The Studio). The link has two two-light casement windows in its west wall. The dairy features a corbelled verge and moulded brick heads to its openings: a boarded door with small-pane overlight, a square opening boarded up to the right, and a two-light window in the upper storey. The rear east gable end of the dairy has segmental-headed two-light windows, to the left of which is a rebuilt link (forming a separate dwelling) connecting to the projection against the gable end of the east wing.

The interior preserves significant original features. Inside the entrance porch is the original front door, a large studded door with strap hinges in a surround with a four-centred head. The original layout of the lower storey is uncertain as part of it is said to have been demolished, though it is possible the hall occupied the right side, with the kitchen to the left and the solar in the south-west wing. The left-hand room retains a lateral fireplace with a large timber lintel. An original studded door in a surround with a four-centred head gives access to basement steps.

The middle storey's original layout was altered in the 18th or 19th century. The main rooms have fielded-panel doors, one featuring bolection moulding. Another similar door has been reused in the east wing. The left-side room retains a lateral freestone fireplace surround with a damaged moulded lintel and cornice, above which is 17th-century plaster strapwork in relief incorporating a modern crest. The stairway between the middle and upper storeys features 17th-century fretwork balusters and a square newel.

The upper storey was possibly a long gallery, with four bays of panelled ceiling and a restored moulded cornice. The north end has a plaster barrel ceiling. The roof contains a single original truss with crown and queen posts, and windbraces. The original wing has two queen-post trusses.