Building record 2023/1/1 - Sywell Hall

Country house probably constructed circa 1600 and altered mid 18th and 19th centuries.

{1} Country House. Probably c.1600, mid C18 and C19. Lias ashlar with slate roof. Complex double-depth plan. 3 storeys. Entrance front of 5-window range of 2-, 3- and 4-light stone-mullioned windows, 2 to first floor left are blank. Bay to far left breaks forward to form a 3-storey gabled porch with 4-light window to first and second floors and 2-light windows to return walls. Arched entrance with 4-centred moulded stone head. Frieze of linked squares and circles above first floor window with coat of arms above. Range to right of porch has eaves parapet and 3 gables, all with short obelisks at bases and apex. Gabled roof with brick and stone stacks at ridge and end. Garden front to right of entrance front has 4-window range of C18 sash windows with glazing bars at first floor, all with plain stone-mullioned windows. Eaves parapet and 2 gables similar to entrance front. Elevation to right of garden front of 3-window range, 2 of C18 sashes and one 3-light stone-mullioned window. Door opening to right has 4-centred arch head. One C18 sash to left is truncated by the staircase projection which may bave been added in C19. C19 single-storey extension to right includes the morning room and domestic offices. Interior: staircase well and several other rooms have arched openings with 4-centred moulded stone heads, similar opening in attic. Dogleg staircase rises around large central columns. Room to right of entrance has open fireplace with C19 panelling and fire surround. First floor porch room has fireplace with moulded stone surround and some C17 panelling, probably reset. Attic room has similar fireplace. The range to the right of the porch many originally have been repeated to the left. (Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.243; Halls and Manor Houses of Northamptonshire by J.A. Gotch, p.65).

{7} Undated photo;


{5}A possibly post medieval ring was found during rebuilding of Sywell Hall.

{8} [Former list description] Wellingborough Road, Sywell Hall SP 86 NW 3/212 28.5.54. II*
Built circa 1600. Sandstone, 3 full storeys, steep roofs (late slate), parapet and many gables with moulded coping and verges. Thick obelisk finials on kneelers and apex of gables. Originally L-shaped, 19th century and later extensions have made it a roughly rectangular plan. Late brick flues on all chimneys. A large number of stone mullioned windows survive but only the entrance front, north, is intact. At the east end of this north front is a 3-storey gabled porch with a 4-light window to 1st and 2nd floors and a 2-light window to the sides. A band of decorative carving to the 3 sides above and 2nd storey and a coat-of-arms in heavy architrave below the 3rd storey window. Wide entrance with moulded 4 centre arched head. The rest of the front has a large gable roughly central and 2 smaller ones - the arrangement is not symmetrical. 3 windows to each floor varying 2, 3 and 4-light. Continous cornice above each storey. Interior modernised. (J A Gotch "Halls and Manor Houses").

{10} SP 8229 6736: Sywell Hall (NAT)

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 15/308 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G05 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100394.

<3> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p.243 (unchecked) (Series). SNN1320.

<4> Gotch J.A., 1936, The Old Halls and Manor Houses of Northamptonshire, p.65 (unchecked) (Book). SNN44101.

<5> Northamptonshire Notes and Queries (Series 1), 1/80 (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN23275.

<6> Heward J.; Taylor R., 1996, The Country Houses of Northamptonshire, (checked) (Book). SNN41757.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Sywell (Photographs). SNN113268.

<8> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, DOE (HHR) Dist. of Wellingborough R.D. Northants. Aug. 1972 64 (Report). SNN112993.

<9> Historic England, Undated, GARDEN HOUSE, SYWELL, BF061896 (Archive). SNN116059.

<10> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), OS 1:10000 1971 (Map). SNN112944.

Record last edited

Oct 24 2024 11:50AM