Listed Building: Rushton Hall School (1192160)

Great house, now school. Perhaps early C16 origin, altered and enlarged late C16 and early C17 (gables dated 1595, 1626, 1627 and 1630), altered and partly reconstructed in C19. Much of the elaborate interior detail is also C19 or early C20. Limestone ashlar with Collyweston stone slate roofs, coped gables and numerous stone ridge and lateral stacks. 2 storeys and attic. Courtyard plan of 3 ranges with linking screen to east. East front: screen has broad central entrance, a round-headed doorway with double studded doors, and niches containing statues of warriors to either side, divided by fluted tapering pilasters carrying classical entablature and Gothic style balustrade of quatrefoils alternating with tiny trefoil-headed lights (in existence by 1741), carrying reclining figure with cornucopia and dolphin. 4 bays to either side, divided by pilasters, each bay with a 3-light stone mullioned window. Parapet and balustrade with urns. Gable ends of wings to left and right have 2-storey canted bay windows with parapet and strap-work cresting, and 6-light double-stepped (6-lights then 4, then 2) attic windows in shaped gables with finials. Balustrades and corner finials. 2-storey, one-bay additions to outside of each gable have a 4-light mullion-and-transom window to ground floor and a window of 2 round-headed larger-than-usual lights to first floor, and parapet with blind Gothic tracery (pattern as to central screen balustrade). Interior of courtyard: south range, divided by buttress, has great hall to right lit by 2 4-light mullion-and-transom windows with hood-moulds and a tall bow window with castellated parapet. Left of buttress, is a similar bow window (with some blind lights) added in C19 (or 1905 - date on rainwater head), and C19 mullion and transom windows. West range much restored in C19, has canted bay window to right of centre and mullion and transom windows with hoodmoulds. Buttressed north range, apparently rebuilt after fire of 1835, has similar windows and 3 canted bays. String course below attic storey which has parapet, divided by pilasters decorated with strapwork, balustrade and 3 gables to each range. Central west gable is shaped and has a double-stepped mullion and transom, window (reflecting gable-ends at north and south ranges) dated 1627. Other gables are straight-sided some with dates or carved motifs, and all have finials. Casement windows with decorative leaded glazing, incorporating some stained glass. South range, extended to south 1848-52 with bow and canted bay windows, gabled wing projecting from south end of west front of patchy ironstone rubble with pale stone quoins and plinth, keyed for render, has coped gables, finial and kneelers ornamented with tiny trefoils, emblem of the Tresham family. Interior: great hall has restored hammerbeam roof. Early C17-style staircase has plaster ceiling with strapwork and a central pendant with mermaids. Oratory in south-west wing has painted plaster relief panel of the Crucification, dated 1577. Much elaborate C17-style, interior detail. Home of the Tresham family from 1438, sold in 1619 to Sir William Cockayne, in whose family it remained until 1828, when it was sold to W.W. Hope. At his death in 1854 the estate was sold to Clara Thornhill (later Clarke-Thornhill), after whose death in 1865 it was leased to various tenants. It is now a school for blind children. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire: pp397-400)

Record last edited

Mar 26 2024 4:01PM