Description

TG 12 NE BLICKLING

4/1 Blickling Hall
19-1-52

GV I

Country house. Built c.1619-27 for Sir Henry Hobart, Lord Chief Justice,
to the designs of the surveyor Robert Lyminge. Remodelling 1765-85 by Thomas
and William Ivory of Norwich. Red brick with stone and stucco dressings;
roofs plain tiled and pantiled with lead domes to corner turrets. 2½, 3 and
4 storeys, originally a double- courtyard plan, entered from the south and
open to the north. South front of seven bays, the outer bays occupied by
square corner turrets with ogee lead-covered domes. Bays 2, 4 and 6 are three
storeys high with shaped gables to attics and canted 2-storey bay windows
with pierced parapets. Strapwork pediments to upper windows. Windows
generally ovolo-moulded mullion and transom with leaded glazing and iron
casements. Two transoms to first floor windows, lighting the principal rooms;
windows set slightly advanced and with embellished heads of strapwork,
balustrading or pediments. Frieze band with triglyphs and guttae above ground
floor window heads. Central entrance approached via a stone bridge over the
former moat: pierced stone parapet with square piers surmounted by Hobart
bulls supporting shields. Two brick arches with stone dressings below. Oak
entrance screen with raised and fielded panels, six to the doors and six
in the screen panels. Three lintol panels above dated 1620. Semicircular
fanlight with pierced wood and iron screen. Doorway flanked by two Doric
columns supporting frieze of bulls' heads, central keystone with figure
carving. Spandrels carved with female figures holding wreaths. Entablature
with heraldry above. Central first floor window of 12 lights flanked by Ionic
pilasters with blocking; figures of Justice and Truth on balustrade above.
Moulded coping to parapet and gables with figures on keyblocks at gable
peaks. Central clock tower a reconstruction by John Adey Repton c.1830:
stuccoed and colourwashed. Lower stage has pedimented windows between
pilasters with block decoration supporting a decorated frieze; clock stage
has tapering Ionic pilasters and strapwork embellishment to clock face and
window openings. Octagonal opensided lantern with lead covered ogee dome
and finial with weather vane. Two large symmetrically-placed chimney stacks
each with 8 octagonal shafts with star tops and moulded bases. At south-east
and south-west corners, C19 arcaded screens link to service ranges (q.v.).
East facade has 9 bays between corner turrets; rainwater heads dated 1620.
Projecting bay windows in bays 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, canted in bays 1, 3 and 5.
Stone ovolo-moulded mullion and transom windows with leaded glazing; some
iron lattice frames. Above the bays, shaped attic gables with 3-light windows.
Continuous band above ground floor window heads decorated with triglyphs.
Corner turrets have pedimented and embellished doorways with semi-
circular-arched heads, those on the east front have blocked pilasters and
entablatures with arms. Eaves parapet with stone coping; gable peaks have
keyblocks and figure finials. North front remodelled by William Ivory c.1779:
the corner turrets and the left-hand shaped gable survive from the original
build. Centre three bays slightly advanced with mullion and transom windows
projecting from wall face under pediments. Frieze of triglyphs continues
above ground floor window heads. Stone eaves cornice with balustrade.
Flanking bays with shaped gables have 2-storey square projections with large
5-light windows and pierced stone parapets; two transoms to first floor windows
as elsewhere. West facade dated 1769, rebuilt by Thomas and William Ivory.
13 bays, 1 and 13 being the square corner turrets. Bays 4, 7, 10 have shaped
gables to attic storey with eaves parapet, coping and finials as on east
facade. Windows generally ovolo-moulded 2 and 3 light casements with leaded
glazing, some first floor windows reglazed. Transoms and pediments to first
floor windows. All windows set slightly forward of wall face. The centre
entrance bay is embellished: the first floor window has a strapwork pediment,
below the window a panel commemorating the bequest of Mary Ann, Countess of
Buckinghamshire, towards the erection of the facade, 1769. Attic window on
scrolled base with finials. Interior: very fine and elaborate interiors,
fully described in the National Trust guide book. Original staircase extended
and reconstructed 1767 by Thomas Ivory in the new position: elaborately-carved
newels with figure-finials on pedestals; square, tapering balusters with Ionic
caps and arcading below handrail; strapwork between baluster feet. Building
in care of the National Trust. (Pevsner The Buildings of England - North-east
Norfolk and Norwich 1962, Christopher Hussey Country Life June 7, 21, 28 1930,
Blickling Hall The National Trust 1985.)

Listing NGR: TG1789428689

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Blickling Hall at Wikipedia
• Blickling Hall official website
• Wikidata Q17535638

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.

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