Description

HAMSTALL RIDWARE C.P. BLITHBURY ROAD (north- SK 1019-1119 east side)

12/31 Tower and attached walls at Hamstall Hall (formerly listed as Tower at Hamstall 27.2.64 Hall

GV II*

Tower and walls. Late C15 with C16 alterations and additions. Red brick (English bond in places) with some ashlar dressings; flat lead covered roof; brick lateral stack. The roughly square tower stands at the south-east corner of the principal courtyard at Hamstall Hall (q.v.); there is a massive chimney stack to the western half of the south face. Walls attached to the south-west and south-east angles enclose the south-east side of the courtyard and the north-west side of the adjacent grounds of the Church of S. Michael (q.v.) respectively. 3-storey tower approximately 40 feet high. East elevation. 2 off- sets; the lower one has a stone coping and stone parapet band. Each storey has a small C15 window with 4-centred head, ground and first floor each have a C16 three-light chamfer mullioned window with rebated frame. C16 two-storey buttress to the right hand (north-east) corner. At second floor level are some designs in dark brickwork. West elevation. C16 Tudor arch door to the left with sunken spandrels and stone surround; directly above at both first and second floor level is a blocked C15 doorway with 4-centred arch. Blocked C16 fireplace to ground floor right with Tudor arch and sunken spandrels. Above the upper storey is the steeply arched roof line of a now demolished range that was formerly attached to the tower. North elevations. Small C15 window at second floor level and a small C16 window lower down. South elevation. The left hand half of the elevation is occupied by the chimney stack, the upper part of this is C16 and has a corbel table of trefoil headed arches with sunken spandrels. The lower part of the stack probably served as an annexe to the tower until being converted in the C16 for it has a blocked window at first floor level of similar type to the C15 windows on the east face. To the right hand side of the elevation are three windows, at different levels each with sunken spandrels and brick dripstones. The lowest served the first floor, the upper two can only have served as clerestory lighting for the first and second floors. There is a smaller C15 window at second floor level to the far right. Interior. Now occupied by a late C16/early C17 staircase with closed string, turned balusters and newel finials making use of much reclaimed timber, possibly from a demolished part of Hamstall Hall (q.v.). The original function of the tower is obscure; it may have been residential or it may have served as a look-out tower. Circa 1600 it was converted into a staircase tower. By the end of the C18 it has become isolated from the main house by the demolition of its attached wing. Scheduled as an Ancient Monument. B.o.E. p.140; Stebbing Shaw, The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire, vol 1 (1798) p. 157. I.M. Ferris, 'A Survey of Hamstall Hall, Staffordshire' South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions vol. XXVI (1984-5) pp. 44-75.

Listing NGR: SK1054219377

External Links

• Wikidata Q17557837

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Recommended Books

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)