Description

BRANDSBY-CUM-STEARSBY TOWN STREET
SE 57 SE
(south side)
6/15
Brandsby Hall
28.2.52
GV II*

Country house. Rebuilding of older house. c.1742-8, with alterations of
c.1785, possibly by Thomas Atkinson. Main house by and for Francis Cholmeley.
Sandstone; hammer-finished ashlar, dressed and rubble; Westmorland slate roof.
U-shaped plan, 3 storeys. South front: ashlar; 7 bays; plinth, rusticated
quoins, first- and second-floor bands; original windows in keyed architraves,
sashes with glazing bars, except for central 3 on ground floor, altered c.1785,
to 15-pane sashes extending down into plinth and with cornices; 4-pane sashes on
second floor; cyma reversa cornice; parapet; hipped roof; rendered brick stacks
between 2nd and 3rd, 5th and 6th bays. Rear: rubble; lead rainwater head with
legend 'F M 1746'. Left return: coursed stone; 5 bays; bands and keyed archi-
traves as front; ground floor, from left, has leaved French doors below 4-pane
overlight in architrave extended downwards; 8-pane window; part-glazed door in
window opening with wooden steps; 2 sash windows with glazing bars; first floor,
from left, two 10-pane windows in altered architraves, lighting back staircase,
three 8-pane sashes; second-floor windows, cornice and parapet as front;
corniced stack and hipped roof at left end (possibly containing some work of
older house on site). Right return: rubble; 5 bays; windows have thick glazing
bars and keyed ashlar surrounds, the first bay blind; in 3rd bay; door of 6
fielded panels below 3-pane overlight in eared architrave with pediment suppor-
ted on consoles; on first floor two 18-pane sash windows lighting main staircase
and two 8-pane sashes; second-floor windows of 4 panels. Interior: east door
gives onto staircase hall containing oak cantilevered open-well staircase with
turned balusters of fluted column on gadroon on vase, wreathed mahogany hand-
rail, walls have Vitruvian scroll at first floor level, above which are egg-
and-dart plasterwork edgings to panels, rich modillion cornice, 4 medallions in
the coving and central cluster for chandelier, the plasterwork by Cortese;
staircase hall has doorways with egg-and-dart architraves, also edging to 6
fielded panels; behind staircase hall the kitchen, with two chamfered ashlar
fireplaces, one segmental-arched, the other tripartite and with outer round
arches flanking larger central segmental arch, all chamfered; in front of
staircase-hall, facing south, the drawing room, now the library, with Cortese
ceiling with ribbons and grapes, augmented c.1830 with Greek-key frieze with
almost detached roll wrapped round with acanthus leaves, yellow and white marble
fireplace of c.1783; next the original entrance hall, now the drawing room, with
c.1785 chimneypiece in white marble and cornice with guilloche in hollow core,
ceiling has delicate decorative painting of c.1845 by Crace; dining room at west
end with later cornice and fireplace; dogleg back staircase with column-on-vase
balusters; on first floor to rear left, the chapel, now billiard room, with
Cortese ribbon work on ceiling, large wall panels with shell niche, reredos now
chimneypiece with broken pediment on Corinthian columns, doors in eared archi-
traves with pulvinated friezes with acanthus leaves and cornices; second-floor
rooms all have simple classical cornices; all the plasterwork, from cellars to
attics having been provided by Cortese, whose bills survive. The first-floor
landing is raised up over a cavity containing fragments of the older house on
the site; when Francis Cholmeley married in 1745, he had to live temporarily at
Warren House (qv), because his workmen demolished more of Brandsby Hall than he
had intended, leaving only two rooms habitable. John Cornforth, 'Brandsby Hall,
Yorkshire', Country Life 2 and 9 January 1969; VCR ii, p.104. Photos in NMR.

Listing NGR: SE5977271839

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535786

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)