History

Early C19 hall in Regency style. Said to have replaced an earlier house to the NE which was incorporated into service ranges. Shown on the Northop tithe map of 1839 when the service ranges and hall were unattached. Highfield Hall was sold by the Soughton estate in 1917 for £3,375, to Geoffrey Summers of New Brighton. It is now a hotel.

Exterior

Large symmetrical 2-storey, 3-window house with square plan. Stuccoed under a hipped slate roof with wide boarded eaves. Rendered stacks; ridge stack R of centre to front, stacks with multiple shafts set back behind to L & R, and 2 stacks to rear. First-floor sill band; recessed hornless sash windows with fine glazing bars and flat heads. The entrance front has a stone tetrastyle Doric porch to centre with plain mutules to cornice. Panelled entrance door in a moulded frame with flower motifs to upper angles, with narrow side-lights and a 3-centred arched fanlight with radial glazing bars. The porch is flanked by full-height 6-over-9-pane sashes. Three-over-6-pane sashes to upper storey.

The garden front has a central canted bay containing double glazed doors with large panes. The parapets support scrolled iron railings which form a 1st floor balcony, reached by French doors with side lights. The flanking windows to each floor are as entrance front. Adjoining the NW angle of the house is a glazed conservatory on a high plinth with hipped lead-covered roof. External doors to N and S, the glazing with small panes. To the rear (N) is an added single-storey bay to centre with hipped roof. It has a canted bay to the N end with French doors. Conservatory to R and flat-roofed extension to L. Sash windows to upper storey, partly visible, and skylights to roof pitch. The E side of the house has a fire-escape door to the centre of the upper storey reached by a metal staircase. This is flanked by a 3-over-6-pane sash to the L and a tripartite sash to the R. To the ground floor is a small brick lean-to to the L and a large multi-pane hornless sash to the R.

Adjoining the NE angle of the house is a long L-shaped service range of 2 storeys, constructed of brick with hipped slate roofs with wide boarded eaves and brick stacks. The S end of the long N-S range has a shallow lean-to porch to L with planked door and 2-light multi-pane casement. To the R of the porch is a 2-light casement, above which is a 3-over-6-pane sash, all with segmental brick heads. To the L at 1st floor level is a 6-over-6-pane sash in an earlier 2-storey projection. This long range was formerly a coach house and stables, now converted to accommodation. The E side is 6-window to the upper storey, with shallow segmental brick heads, stone sills and plain glazing, except L window which is blind. Two small-pane sashes to L of lower storey, beyond which the openings are much altered including infill of a central carriage doorway with brickwork and a window. The block at right angles to the N is said to be the earlier house at Highfield and is rectangular in plan. The S side, in the angle of the 2 ranges, has a carriage doorway with segmental head and planked doors, and 3-light C20 windows with horizontal glazing bars to the R and aligned to the upper storey. The E front has a tall panelled door with overlight flanked by small-pane horned sashes, with similar windows above. The N side is 6-window with a central gabled porch with half-glazed door to E side, and small-pane horned sash windows of different widths. To the W is a C20 door L of centre and 2 small-pane sashes to each storey. Late C20 casements to R.

Interior

Inside the front door is an entrance lobby with tiled floor, plaster cornice with egg & dart moulding and ornate ceiling rose. Inner doorway as main entrance with half-glazed panelled door, fanlight and side lights. Inside the door is a long stair-hall with similar ceiling cornice. Segmental panelled archway to reception area with open-well wooden staircase to L. It has turned balusters, large square newels with carved foliage decoration and large finials, and a moulded handrail. Panelled doors with ribbing, in moulded doorcases with panelled reveals. To the L of the stair-hall are 2 rooms for dining. That to the front has a ceiling cornice with egg & dart and scrolled decoration, and a marble fireplace. The room behind, containing the canted bay, has moulded coving, 2 ornate ceiling roses, and a small wooden fireplace with relief decoration. To the R of the stair-hall is the cocktail bar, with classical-style fireplace flanked by recessed arches. To R of reception area is a doorway to later rear wing with bar and former ballroom which has a ceiling light with stained glass, 2 pairs of glazed doors to conservatory to L, and an archway to R to sitting area.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a fine Regency country house retaining good original character with well-detailed exterior and interior.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29480934

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

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)