The Old Hall

Details

SO 75 NE MARTLEY B 4204 (s.w. side) Martley

6/104 The Old Hall (formerly listed as The Rectory) 12.11.51

GV I

Former rectory, now house. Mainly C14 and C15 with subsequent additions and alterations from C16 to C20. Timber-frame clad in brick, plain tile roof. Essentially H-plan: C14 central once open hall of 2 bays with through passage at south end; originally a gap of about 1.5 metres between hall and contemporary 3 bay upper end range to north; service range to south is C15 of 2 bays, with a single bay at right angles to it of a similar date; lateral stacks to west wall of hall and north wall of upper end; C17 infill to west of hall of brick, and a service range of C17 to north of upper end. Garden front: mainly 2 storeys, irregular fenestration. Late C18 semi-circular projecting bay to left (north) fronting upper end with parapet partially concealing gable with early C19 pierced bargeboards; three 12-pane sashes to first floor, central glazed door on ground floor between 2 sashes; hall has two 16-pane sashes with flush sash boxes to first floor, and 3 similar sashes to ground floor of 12:16:12 sashes, the central one under a segmental head, the other two under rubbed brick heads; gabled projecting porch to through passage, has early C19 pierced barge boards, panelled brick cornice and toothed brick string; 2-light casement lights attic, above a 12-pane sash with flush sash box under a rubbed brick head with key- stone on first floor; entrance has a segmental head, and the plank door is probably C16, as is that at the other end of the passage, original hinges; gable of cross-wing (service) has early C19 pierced barge boards, 2-light casement to attic above 12-pane sash with flush sash box under rubbed brick head with keystone to first and ground floor; blank brick wall to right (south) of this fronts the single bay service extension. Interior: Hall: central truss and spere truss of massive timbers are extant; central truss: large angle braces to tie, above tie-beam are two curved struts from tie to collar forming 2-centred arch, wind-braces (removed) to slender single purlins; principal rafters off relatively small scantling inclined at almost 60°; spere truss: angle braces from spere posts are curved, and form a 2-centred arch, the apex of which is cut in soffit of the tie-beam; elbowed struts from tie-beam to principal rafters, also collar; all principal arrises decorated with ovolo chamfers. Inserted floor of C16 contemporary with staircase inserted in gap between hall and upper end; newel posts carved in low relief: turned balusters, moulded string and hand rail. Upper end roof: curved struts from tie-beam to principals, with collar; pitch of roof similar to hall; in north wall of west bay are the remnants of a 3-light ogee headed window. Through passage has 3 ogee headed entrances into service: the west bay of service has remnants of mid-C15 wall paintings with 2 black letter inscriptions in English (on the timbers). Roof is of clasped-purlin type with diminished principals, perhaps early C15. The upper floor is now reached from a stair commencing in the hall which has been remodelled, but includes mid-C18 turned balusters. Fittings: Alabaster slab of c1460 from tomb in church on east wall of room in service wing containing C15 painting (formerly over hall fireplace). Panelling: some moved C18 pine panelling in east room on ground floor of service range; early C17 oak panelling with deep frieze in west room on first floor of service range; imported C18 panelling, installed 1960/1 from Manchester, in rooms to west of hall. This is an extremely important house with the archaic feature of a separate upper end range, albeit only 1.5 metres away from the hall. This was the birthplace of C S Calverley (1831), the poet and parodist, and the child- hood home of Sir Charles Hastings, founder of the British Medical Association. (FWB Charles, 1967, "Medieval Cruck-Building and its Derivatives", Society for Medieval Archaeology, Monograph Series no 2, pp 54/55; BoE p 221; VCH 4, p 290).

Listing NGR: SO7569059877

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

151637

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1924), 290
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Herefordshire, (1963), 221
Charles, F W D, Society for Medieval Archaelogy in Medieval Cruck Building and its Derivatives, Vol. 2, (1969), 54-55

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