Longner Hall and Short Section of Forecourt Wall Adjoining to North West, Atcham, Shropshire

Description

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ATCHAM
LONGNER

Longner Hall and short section of forecourt wall adjoining to north west
(formerly listed as Longner Hall with stable wing and clock tower)

The grade shall be amended to read: I.

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SJ 51 SW;
3/53

29.01.52

ATCHAM C.P.
LONGNER

Longner Hall and short section of forecourt wall adjoining to north-west
(formerly listed as Longner Hall with stable wing and clock tower)

GV
II*

Country house. 1803, by John Nash on site of earlier house. Red sandstone
ashlar with grey sandstone ashlar dressings and details; red brick and
rendered brick to rear of service wing; plain tile roof, 2-span over main
range. Irregular L-plan; main block with 2 ranges with gabled cross-wing
to west and service wing projecting at north-west corner; Tudor Gothic
Revival style. 2 storeys. Plinth, moulded cornice, battlemented parapet,
and parapeted gables with diagonal corner pinnacles at feet and pinnacles
at apices; ashlar stacks with octagonal shafts and moulded caps; ridge
stacks with paired shafts, to front ridge of main range and to cross-wing
stack in valley of main range, and external lateral stacks to north-east
of main range and south-west of cross-wing with 3 and 2 shafts respectively.
Square-headed casements with 4-centred arched lights, glazing bars with
Y-tracery, and hoodmoulds. South (garden) front: gabled wing to left
has 2-storey flat-topped canted bay with panelled tracery to 6-light windows,
Gothic panelled framing between, and 2-light louvred attic opening above;
main range set back to right with 2 first-floor 2-light casements and 3
pairs of ground-floor French casements with 4-centred arches within square
heads, and hoodmoulds; grey sandstone loggia in angle, 4 bays to front
and returned along east front in 3 bays; buttresses rising to pinnacles,
and battlemented parapet; 4-centred moulded arches with probably later
glazing in front arches and one arch to east, consisting of 2 lights with
Y-traceried glazing bars and panelled tracery above; panelled soffit with
carved bosses, and brackets with pierced spandrels resting on corbels
Right-hand return front: first-floor 2-light casement above loggia to left
with 2-light louvred attic opening in gable end above; gabled range
projecting to right. 2-storey flat-topped canted bay with panelled tracery
to 6-light windows, and Gothic panelled framing between. Left-hand return
front: 2 first-floor canted flat-topped oriel windows with 4-light casements
and scalloped bases with carved bottom finials; ground-floor French
casements to left with Y-tracery glazing bars, 4-centred arch and 4-part
overlight; adjoining terrace was base of former conservatory in angle of
west front and south front of service wing (q.v.); similar in style to the
surviving loggia it was demolished in the 1930s. North (entrance) front:
asymmetrical composition, projecting slightly to right; central 2-light
casement, stack to left, and large 3-light staircase window to right with
panelled tracery and chamfered reveals; central porch with angle buttresses,
battlemented parapet with corner pinnacles, 4-centred arches to front and
left with trefoil-panelled spandrels, and quadripartite lierne vault with
carved boss; square-headed 4-centred arched entrance with moulded surround
and pair of 2-panelled doors with 5-light panelled traceried overlight.
Mounting block adjoining to right dated 1676. Short section of low fore-
court wall adjoining porch to left with plinth, Gothic balustrading, coping,
and panelled square end pier. Service wing: L-plan, returned to north-
west. Ridge stacks off-centre to left and right with paired octagonal shafts,
integral brick stack in right-hand corner, and 2 brick ridge stacks to
returned wing. 8 bays; 2-light casements; corbelled first-floor square
oriel window in fourth bay from right, pinnacled gable over right-hand bay
with 2-storey canted bay; projecting clock tower over porch in third bay
from right: 3 stages; moulded plinth, side buttresses to first stage,
string between first and second stages, panelled clasping buttresses and
battlemented parapet to third stage, and octagonal belfry with pinnacled
buttresses, ogee-headed lancet openings with finialled-hoodmoulds,
battlemented parapet, and ogee lead dome with weathervane; louvred
second stage openings with paired cusped lights, chamfered reveals, and
hoodmoulds with carved stops, lozenge-shaped clock to front; small
rectangular first-stage windows with returned hoodmoulds high up in sides,
chamfered-arched entrance has hoodmould with carved shields as stops;
rear of service range has short stub of wall to now-demolished conservatory
projecting at south-west corner with triple-shafted stack, 2-storey canted
bay to south-west, projecting short gabled wing, and pent-roofed loggia in
angle of return wing to north-east with circular and octagonal sandstone
columns. Interior: small vaulted entrance lobby; Staircase Hall: corridor
has 5 plaster fan vaults with pendants, and fireplace with quatrefoil
surround and shields; staircase off rising to landing in one flight and
returning in 2 with wreathed wrought iron balustrade and apsidal end with
ribs rising to Gothic frieze; staircase window contains glass by David
Evans depicting 3 figures, one of them Edward Burton who died at Longner
in 1558 and whose memorial is set in the grounds; ground-floor fan vault
forms semi-circular balcony to first-floor vaulted corridor; Library: ceiling
has central shallow quadripartite fan vault with pendants and vaulted narrow
encompassing band; 4-centred arched fireplace and Gothic pelmets;
Drawing Room: Gothic frieze; Dining Room: circa 1803. Gothic frieze;
colour scheme, stencilling, Neo-Jacobean chimney-piece and flat-panelled
ceiling are probably alterations by E. Swinfen Harris of 1884; possibly
re-used 3-flight square-well back staircase with turned balusters,
columnar newel and ramped moulded handrail; Gothic-panelled doors and
friezes throughout house; some Gothic furniture, especially that in the
Dining Room, was probably designed for the house circa 1803. Nash worked
with Humphry Repton at Longner; Repton landscaped the grounds 1803-4
and his Red Book for the work is kept in the house. Longner is the
only complete large surviving example of Nash's Tudor style. B.o.E.
p.173; Terence Davis, The Architecture of John Nash, Studio (1960),
Pp.28 and 66-8; Kelly's Directory for Shropshire (1909), Pp.27-8;
J. Summerson, The Life and Work of John Nash. Architect, London (1980),
p.42.

Listing NGR: SJ5287511043

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