Hanbury Hall

Details

HANBURY CP SCHOOL ROAD (north side) SO 96 SW 3/120 (11/2) Hanbury Hall 29.12.52 GV I

Country house in landscaped park. Dated 1701 with early and mid-C19 alterations. Built by William Rudhall for Thomas Vernon. Red brick in Flemish bond with ashlar dressings; plain tiled hipped roof with broad eaves and large brick stacks. Central block with wings to front and rear returning to project on side elevations as independent pavilions. Two storeys and attic with dormers and central cupola; moulded plinth, band between storeys and wood modillion eaves cornice; Queen Anne style. South-east entrance elevation: 3:1:3:1:3 bays; outer three bays wings; central three bays break forward, are pedimented and are flanked by engaged Corinthian columns on high pedestals. Windows are mainly 18-pane sashes, most retaining their thick glazing bars, and have moulded architraves, sills and keyblocks; central first-floor window has an elaborately carved surround with large scrolls and an apron carved with the Vernon coat of arms flanked by the date "1701". The dormers are pedimented, the pediments of the central five bays being alternately segmental, and have 12-pane sash windows; contained within the central entrance pediment is an oeil-de-boeuf window. The entrance porch with its two Corinthian columns and entablature is an early C19 addition; the front and sides have glazed infill and, within, are the half-glazed double entrance doors. The central octagonal timber cupola was rebuilt in 1809 and has glazed semi-circular headed sides, a clockface to front and rear, a moulded cornice and an ogee dome with ball finial and weathervane. The south-west side elevation is articulated by a regular 2:7:2 arrangement; the north-east side elevation is of 3:4:2 composition, the left bay of the recessed centre having a blocked doorway with pedimented surround. The rear elevation has two small square mid-C19 additions in the angles with the wings. The lead rainwater goods throughout are decorated with lions' heads and rosettes. Interior: Hall occupies five central front bays and is panelled and has painted ceiling with trompe l'oeil saucer domes; wall facing the entrance has an original bolection-moulded chimney-piece above which is niche containing white marble bust of Thomas Vernon, possibly by Francis Bird; against right wall are set three Corinthian half-columns and to left side of hall is the staircase. Staircase: large open-well type with turned and fluted balusters, some original parquet on landings; former dado removed to make way for wall paint- ings by Sir James Thornhill, c1710. These are set within architectural surrounds and depict scenes from the Life of Achilles; the ceiling above shows an assembly of the classical deities. There are also two panels by Thornhill on the ceiling of the Long Room of Apollo and Leukothea and the Rape of Orithyia; in the same room is an ornate Rococo chimney-piece of c1750. During the late C18 Emma Vernon undertook some internal alterations including the redecoration of the Library and Drawing Room in the front wings in a Neo- Classical style. In the Parlour to the rear of the Hall is further panelling and another bolection-moulded chimney-piece. Upstairs a similar chimney- piece survives in a complete three-room apartment (known as the Hercules apart- ment), to the rear of the south-west wing which is panelled throughout, and has an additional small corner fireplace with pilastered surround and ogee canopy. The actual authorship of Hanbury Hall is uncertain. It incorporates elements of William Talman's designs, notably the centre-piece of Thoresby, Nottingham- shire of the 1680's, the garden front at Swallowfed Park, Berkshire of 1689-91 and the interior layout of Fetcham Park, Surrey of 1705. It also bears strong similarities to the nearby Ragley Hall, Warwickshire of 1679-83 by Robert Hooke with its old-fashioned hipped roof, central pediment and "pavilion" wings. The surviving drawing by the builder William Rudhall is not unlike Thoresby and, as it is quite possible Rudhall may have worked at Ragley, the consequent design of Hanbury could be his amalgamation of these two influences. Hanbury Hall was the seat of the Vernon family until 1953 when it was given to the National Trust. (Country Life, xxxix, p 502; CXLiii, p 18 and 66; Gardens X, - 368; VCH 3 (ii), p 372-3; BoE, p 184-6; Hanbury Hall, The National Trust Guide, 1981).

Listing NGR: SO9441863741

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

147796

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Hanbury Hall, (1981)
Doubleday, AH, Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, (1913), 372-3
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (1968), 184-6
Country Life in Country Life, Vol. 34, (), 502
Country Life in Country Life, Vol. 10, (1901), 368
Country Life in Country Life, Vol. 143, (1968), 18 66

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 20 Hereford and Worcester,

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