Details
BOMERE HEATH C.P. ALBRIGHTON
SJ 41 NE
6/59 Albrighton Hall
11.7.85
GV II*
Small country house, now hotel. Circa 1675, altered and enlarged in
1885, and further extended in c.1950. Some minor late C20 alterations.
Red brick with blue brick diaper work and yellow/grey sandstone ashlar
dressings. Hipped plain tile roof, 2-span to east. Double-depth plan,
with later additions at rear. C19 additions in a late C17 style. 2
storeys and attic. South (entrance) front: plinth with chamfered
stone top, flush quoins, moulded stone string course, moulded wooden
modillion eaves cornice, and parapeted gable end to right of rear range
with stone coping. Brick stack on return ridge to left and 2 brick
stacks in valley to right, consisting of multiple square shafts (left
to right, 8, 6 and 3) with oversailing tops. 3 hipped dormers with
3-light wooden casements, and pair of small flat-roofed dormers between
first and second large dormers from left. 6 irregularly-spaced bays;
2-and 3-light wooden mullioned and transomed casements with gauged-
brick heads. Blocked doorway in third bay from right with 2-light
window, radial fanlight, moulded stone architrave with impost mouldings,
and pair of C19 panelled doors in front with moulded wooden architrave.
C16 shallow-gabled porch with Tudor archway, moulded cornice, and parapet
with moulded coping and uncarved shield to front. Painted sundial
with gnomon to left of first-floor left-hand window. Left-hand return
front: 2 hipped dormers with 2-light wooden casements. 2 bays; 2-
and 3-light wooden mullioned and transomed windows to first floor.
Right-hand ground-floor window cut down in C19 and French casements
inserted. C19 canted bay to left with plate-glass sashes, cornice
and coped parapet. Painted sundial with gnomon to right of right-hand
first-floor window. One hipped dormer to right-hand return front.
One-storey C19 conservatory adjoining to right, timber framed on brick
plinths, with convex glazed roof to lantern with ogee lead cap; 4 x
3 bays, with glazing bar sashes divided by fluted pilasters and central
pair of half-glazed doors to front. Rear: plain modillions. 4 hipped
dormers. Wooden cross windows, stepped up staircase to left. Large
addition of 1885 to north-west in a late C17 style. 2 storeys with
brick ridge stack, external brick lateral stack to rear range, and external
brick end stack. 3 bays to west; mullioned and transomed wooden casements,
2 on ground floor cut down, with French casements to left and main en-
trance to right. Smaller one-story kitchen block of 1885 to north-
east. Circa 1950 addition to north. Interior: altered c.1885 but
still retaining many late C17 fixtures and fittings. Right-hand ground-
floor room: formerly 2 rooms, including central entrance hall; altered
and refitted in the C19 using much early C17 panelling etc. Re-ordered
C17 oak panelling with fluted frieze and dentil cornice. Pair of oak
doors (to staircase) with reused C17 carved panels and radial fanlight.
Pair of fireplaces made up from early C17 carved panels etc.. Left-
hand fireplace with marble slip, carved balusters, and overmantel with
carved panels including heraldic animals and central painted coat of
arms. Right-hand fireplace with carved surround, including scrollwork
and figures etc., flanking carved balusters, 2 arched panels divided
by terms and carved frieze and cornice (right-hand baluster dated 1640).
Left-hand ground-floor room: late C17 fittings. Oak dado panelling
with dado rail, and moulded cornice. Chimney-piece consisting of C19
fireplace with stone arch, bolection-moulded architrave and moulded
cornice, and late C17 overmantel with tapestry flanked by twisted Ionic
half columns supporting full entablature with pulvinated frieze and
moulded cornice. C17 doors to right-hand room (double) and rear corridor,
each with 2 moulded panels and moulded architraves. Left-hand ground-
floor rear room: Late C17 moulded oak panelling with moulded cornice.
Remodelled in the late C19 with carved acanthus to cornice, Corinthian
pilasters with carved drops, panelled beams, and neo-Jacobean chimney-
piece with overmantel incorporating pilasters with carved drops, flanking
carved scrolls, and frieze and cornice. Large c. 1675 three-flight
square-well oak staircase, rising two floors, with landings, moulded
closed string, large bottle-shaped turned balusters, moulded handrail,
and square newel posts with acorn-shaped finials and carved pendants.
Late C17 panelling at foot of stairs. Pair of late C17 three-panelled
first-floor doors at head of stairs with moulded architraves, and C17
door to left with 3 raised and fielded panels and moulded architrave.
Further rooms and C19 additions with C19 and C20 fittings and ornament.
First-floor rooms not inspected. Albrighton Hall (presumably the previous
building on the site) was occupied by Thomas Ireland Sheriff of Shropshire
in 1632. It has been suggested that the house is an early C17 building
altered in the early C18 but this seems unlikely. The house stands
within ornamental grounds with a small lake. Ed. Francis Leach, The
County Seats of Shropshire (1891), pp. 147-51; Frances Stackhouse Acton,
The Castles and Old Mansions of Shropshire (1868), p. 66.
Listing NGR: SJ4962718166
