Description

SP43NW
1/224

BROUGHTON
Broughton Castle and attached walls

08/12/55

GV
I
Fortified manor house. Moated C13 and C14 core, remodelled C15, C16 and C18, C19 restoration by George Gilbert Scott. C20 restoration. North front: Regular coursed ironstone rubble. Stone slate roof. Stone lateral and end stacks. Central stack dated RF 1554.

Complex plan: chapel, kitchen, offices, great hall and living quarters. Two storeys plus attic. Six bays.

North front: remodelled c.1550 by Richard Fiennes in Italianate style. Two entrances, one into crenellated C16 extension to left, the other doorway concealed at the side of the bay window to right. Two two-storey bay windows flank oriel window to first floor which has fluted Ionic and Corinthian columns. Scattered fenestration: Stone mullioned and transomed windows including fake windows to west bay window, C18 round headed windows with intersecting glazing bars, and two-light Decorated chapel window. Gabled attic storey. Stone coping.

South front: two storeys plus attic. Little attempt at symmetry. Two doorways; pointed, arched doorway to right has plank door. To left a square headed doorway. Scattered fenestration; stone mullioned windows with hood moulds and label stops, stone mullioned and transomed windows, round headed window with wooden mullions and transoms and pointed arched windows with Gothick glazing bars. The south front is dominated by two gabled staircase projections, lateral stack between. To right a small gabled C16 garderobe and a battlemented tower of three storeys with gargoyles and slits. Two-light C14 window first floor of solar wing. C14 buttresses.

East front: three storeys with gargoyles and slits. Two-light C14 window first floor of solar wing. C14 buttresses. East front: three-light Geometrical window to chapel, two traceried square headed windows and a two-light Geometrical window.

West front: former kitchen wing remodelled and extended C16. Two storeys. Large stone mullioned and transomed windows. Parapet and hipped roof to right.

Interior: C14 plan of great hall and kitchen and offices at west end and living quarters on three floors at east end with first floor solar and chapel over vaulted undercroft. C16 remodelling reversed this arrangement: former kitchen became living rooms, new kitchen built at east end of solar block, three floors built above hall and flat ceiling inserted.
West wing: Drawing Room or Oak Room c.1598 in Flemish Rennaisance style. Built on the foundations of the C14 kitchens. Oak panelling and interior porch with cartouche. Stone fireplace with triglyph frieze, pilasters and floral reliefs. Small room to west of Hall, now Library, remodelled c.1760s in Gothick style.

Great Hall: C14, 58.5ft. x 28.5ft. Four bays. Ceiling with C18 decoration probably by Sanderson Miller. Blocked doorways including two to pantry and buttery. Four-centred C16 doorway with plank door. Stone fireplace. Two small pointed arched doorways with plank doors to quadripartite vaulted passages, one to the chapel, the other to the solar wing. C14 stone newel stair to solar; straight flight of stone to chapel with rib vaulting above.

Undercroft to solar now dining room: three bays of quadripartite vaulting chamfered ribs springing from moulded corbels. Linenfold panelling and stone fireplace c.1540. Chapel undercroft now kitchen: two bays of quadripartite vaulting with chamfered ribs and carved bosses. High pointed arched window to east now cut to contain a doorway. Former open courtyard to east of chapel, enclosed C15 now contains 1970 stone staircase by Fletcher and Watson. C15 Kitchens east of solar wing.

First floor: White room in west wing. Ornate plaster ceiling dated 1559 and REF for Richard and Elizabeth Fiennes. Carved doorcases and dado by G.G.Scott c.1867.

Long gallery remodelled in Gothick style c.1760. Star chamber off Long Gallery: Important stone fireplace has carved stucco overmantel c.1554. The central panel shows dryads dancing round an oak and beneath is an inscription from Ovid. Influence of Fontainebleau School. C16 ceiling has plaster ribs and rosettes and frieze of vines and pomegranates. C18 Chinese hand painted wallpaper.

Queen Anne's Room: Stone fireplace built by Richard Fiennes c.1551. Squint to chapel in north east corner. Chapel c.1331 two storeys 17.5ft.x10.75ft. Noted as a rare example of an unaltered C14 private chapel. Original stone altar slab on stone brackets. Three squints. Piscina recess has ogee head. Medieval floor tiles. Council chamber at top of west stair. Used as meeting place 1629-1640.

Listing NGR: SP4180438177

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Broughton Castle at Wikipedia
• Broughton Castle official website
• Wikidata Q3645409

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

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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)