Details
SJ 63 NE NORTON IN HALES C.P. -
6/122 Brand Hall (formerly
10.2.59 listed as Brand Hall
and Stables)
GV II*
Small country house. Circa 1700, incorporating C17 core. Further
altered in the mid-C18 and extended in the early C19. Minor late C19
alterations at rear and internally. Red brick with grey sandstone ashlar
dressings. Some timber framing at rear with plastered infill. Plain
tile roofs. Hipped slate roofs over early C19 wings. Irregular L-
plan. 2 storeys and attic with 2-storey wings and rear wing. Chamfered
plinth, chamfered quoins, moulded stone cornice, coped parapet with short
balustraded sections in front of pair of hipped dormers with 2-light
wooden casements, and parapeted gable ends with stone copings and integral
brick end stacks with stone bands and caps. Giant Tuscan order of pilasters
(without entasis) supporting short sections of entablature and large
3-bay triangular pediment with carved Styche arms flanked by swags in
tympanum. 2:3:2 bays; glazing bar sashes (bars removed from ground-
floor windows) with painted stone cills, gauged-brick heads and raised
triple keystone with moulded top edge. Central 6-panelled door (upper
4 raised and fielded with beading and lower 2 beaded flush) with moulded
wooden frame, and lugged moulded stone architrave supporting frieze and
cornice. Flanking early C19 set-back 2-storey one-bay wings, each with
dentil brick eaves cornice, (bricks on side) and deep eaves; glazing
bar sashes (bars removed from ground-floor windows) with painted stone
cills and gauged-brick heads. 2-bay right-hand return front, painted
imitation sashes to first floor. 4-panelled door to right. Rear:
central truncated timber framed gabled wing, underbuilt in painted brick.
Irregular framing of former internal wall with angle braces and one blocked
doorway with triangular-headed arch. Rendered gable set back to right
with keyed lunette lighting staircase. Late C19 wing to left with service
tower. Rear wing, south-west front: C17, remodelled in mid-C18. Dentil
brick eaves cornice and parapeted gable end with stone coping and shaped
kneelers. Integral brick end stack to left and brick ridge stack off-
centre to right. 3 hipped dormers with 2-light wooden casements and
moulded wooden eaves cornices. 4-pane sashes with gauged-brickheads (ground
floor) and painted stone cills; 1:5 first-floor windows, 3 to left with
blind boxes, and 3-ground-floor windows, second and third from left with
boxes. Pair of doorways to right; left-hand one with half-glazed door,
plain lugged surround and moulded cornice and right-hand one with glazed
door, C18 lugged moulded architrave, frieze and cornice. Eaves raised
at rear; truncated former external brick stack with pitched-roofed link
to main root,and later encased on each side (see straight joints).
C18 first-floor sash with keyed gauged head. Interior: some C17 work,
mainly C18 and some late C19 alterations. Ground-floor right-hand (dining)
room: early to mid-C18. Moulded plinth and dado rail, lugged plaster
panels with acanthus ornament, reeded panels above doors, frieze and
enriched plaster cornice. Enriched plaster ceiling with 6 panels.
C19 wooden fireplace in a C17 style with surround, architrave frieze
and cornice and C18 wooden overmantel consisting of panel with flanking
quarter columns in angles, cornice with egg and dart enrichment and triang-
ular pediment . Left-hand ground-floor (drawing) room: remodelled
in the late C19 (see also bay to south-west). Cased beam. C19 fireplace
with ogee-stopped moulded surrounds, pulvinated frieze with carved ornament
and moulded cornice. Ground-floor rear room (rear wing): pair of mid-
C17 ovolo-moulded spine beams with ogee stops. Large mid-C17 dressed
grey sandstone open fireplace with chamfered reveals and chamfered wooden
lintel, with mason's mitre to corners. Entrance wall: moulded plinth and
dado rail, panelling with rounded top corners, and ceiling with 6 panels
and enriched plaster cornice. Pair of elliptical archways at end of
hall, each with moulded capitals, panelled soffits and spandrels,and
acanthus ornament. Left-hand arch leads to rear wing and right-hand,
to staircase. Dog-leg staircase of c.1700 with half-landing, closed
string with pulvinated frieze, turned balusters, moulded handrail and
square newels. Balustrade curving at foot of stairs and returning to
pier of arch, and also returning as landing balustrade. Panelling to
staircase and first floor. Lunette lighting half-landing (see exterior)
with shield in glass. Pair of elliptical arches at head of stairs.
Plaster ceiling rose. Left-hand first-floor rear room: mid-C17 fittings
including oak panelling with fluted frieze,doors with 6 raised and fielded
panels, and fireplace with overmantel consisting of 3 arches divided
by pilasters. Cupboards with H-L hinges. 6-panelled doors throughout
house with moulded architraves. The low floor to ceiling heights (espec-
ially to the first floor) of the front range suggest that this too is
a rebuilding of a timber framed range, albeit a comprehensive one.
Brand Hall was formerly the family home of the Davison family. The
styche arms in the pediment are probably a later addition as they were
granted to Samuel Davison in 1737. William Baker carried out minor
internal alterations for Robert Davison in 1756. In the early C19 Brand
Hall was owned by Purney Sillitoe, John Soane's friend, and later by
the Griffin family. The house stands within a small wooded park.
B.o.E., pp 78-9; Colvin, p.84; H.E. Forrest, Some Old Shropshire Houses
and their Owners, pp. 57-64.
Listing NGR: SJ6920638360
