Description

BARHAM SHRUBLAND ESTATE
TM 15 SE
3/18 Shrubland Hall, including
attached screen walling on
9.12.55 east side, and terraces
and balustrading on south
and west sides.
- II*
A large country mansion built in 3 main stages:-
1. 1770-72 by James Paine, for Revd. John Bacon.
2. Remodelled 1830-32 by Gandy Deering for Sir W.F. Middleton, Bart.
3.Remodelled 1849-55 by Sir Charles Barry (together with garden
architecture) for same client.
West, garden front:- Central block by Paine, 3 storeys, 5 bays. 3 further
bays added by Gandy Deering on either side. Gault brick with dressings of
limestone and stucco. The 5 centre bays are divided by giant Ionic pilasters
supporting a moulded and dentilled cornice, open balustrading, and a large urn
at each bay. The flanking ranges have similar balustrading at a lower level,
the terminal bays set forward in the form of stuccoed pavilions. To left is a
service range (c.1851), set well back, but with similar detailing and bearing
the achievement of the Owner at parapet level. To right is a massive
Italianate cower of c.1850 with rusticated quoins and an open arcaded 4ch
stage with parapets above, capped by ball finials. Windows have broad
stuccoed architraves, shouldered and eared; various sashes and French windows,
most also with cornices on brackets. The east entrance front, a limestone-
faced remodelling by Gandy Deering, has a grand entrance in the Baroque manner
leading to the staircase hall: detached Doric columns with vermiculated
rusticated blocks support a bold moulded and dentilled cornice and open
parapets. The arched doorway has a scrolled keystone and rusticated block
voussoirs; a pair of 3-panelled glazed entrance doors with coved and panelled
stone surround, and a fanlight with radiating bars. A pair of single-storey
3-bay wings with Doric columns and round-headed windows flank the entrance,
with semi-elliptical screen walls of gault brick divided into bays by
limestone piers with ball finials. At each end is a gateway with pairs of
wrought iron gates, and piers with rusticated quoins. The left-hand pair of
gates is especially fine with rich wrought-iron foliage in the French manner.
A large conservatory was added 1855-56 to the south side, in 7 bays with an
aisle supported on slender wrought iron columns. The main internal spaces are
at 1st storey level: a drawing room with fine gilded plaster ceiling in the
Adam style by James Paine, and a similar ante-room; a library with moulded
plaster ceiling by Gandy Deering in Louis XV style (later extended into
tower); also by him is the ramped staircase block and coffered entrance hall.
Attached to the west side is an elevated terrace in white limestone: at the
centre an arch gives access to the ground storey behind. The arch is flanked
by niches and 4 columns with frosted rusticated bands. The retaining wall has
large fielded stone panels and open balustrading; at each end is a flight of
steps down to the upper gun terrace, with a pair of urns at the head of each
flight. A lower terrace is attached to the conservatory on the south side.
It has limestone balustrading with square piers at bay intervals, capped by
large enriched vases and urns of terracotta and limestone. At the centre is a
divided flight of steps with a pool and fountain at the base. The house is
illustrated and described in Country Life Magazine 19th November 1953; the
garden archicecture is described in the following issue.

Listing NGR: TM1263152505

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Shrubland Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata IDs Q17535930 Q7504317

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

• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)