Description

TL 41 SE SHEERING SHEERING LOWER ROAD 2/11 20.2.67 Durrington Hall GV II*

Country house, mid-C18, extended in late C19. Plastered brickwork (exposed on NW elevation), slate roof. Square plan, aspect approx. SW, with internal chimney stacks near W corner and middle of SE side. Late C19 extension to NE with chimney stacks near N and S corners. 2 storeys with attics. Main elevation, ground floor, porch with modillioned pediment, 2 fluted Corinthian columns on plinths and 2 fluted Corinthian pilasters, semi-circular niche to each side, 2 original bays each of 3 double-hung sash windows of 24 and 18 lights. First floor, 1:3:1 arrangement of Venetian windows and double-hung sash windows, the latter of 12 lights each, with a detached segmental head over the middle one. Oblong recesses at outside, on both floors. Modillioned cornice and pediment with circular light and floral design. Pedimented dormer to each side, the N of 6 lights, the S dummy. Hipped roof. The whole forms a symmetrical composition, except the chimney stacks, of which the S has diagonally grouped shafts. Garden (SE) elevation, ground floor, 7 windows, various, all with cornices. First floor, 7 double-hung sash windows of 12 lights, 5 in the original building with pedimented heads, those in the C19 extension larger and with cornices. Modillioned cornice across both parts. 3 dormers in original building, the middle one with segmental pediment, the others triangular. The interior is complete with all doors and doorcases, panelling, all fireplaces except in the S first floor room, blocked. Oak staircase with 3 turned balusters to each tread, and scrolled ends, asymmetrical. In the entrance hall, 2 inserted Ionic columns and beam with Greek key design on soffit, early C19. Muilman stated in 1771 'A capital mansion, called Durrington-House, has lately been built about a mile south-west from the church, upon the estate belonging to Shering Ball manor' (A History of Essex, IV, 106). He named the owner as Samuel Feake, who had built the house after inheriting the estate from his father of the same name, who had bought it at the collapse of the South Sea Company, i.e. 1720. This information and the architectural style, tend to date the construction a decade or two earlier than the date of his publication. The architect is not known. An engraving opposite depicts the house in all essentials as now, including the bays, although shown with fewer glazing bars. A coach house is depicted to the NW with square clock tower and cupola. This building is missing, but the same clock tower and cupola seem to have been transferred to a C19 coach house approx. 60 metres to the N.

Listing NGR: TL4898013061

External Links

• Wikidata Q17530981

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Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)