Description

NZ 15 NW CONSETT B 6310

(South side)
Hamsterley
1/16 (inset) Hamsterley Hall,
6/6/51 with wall and
outbuilding adjoining
GV (Formerly listed as Hamsterley
Hall, Rowlands Gill)
II*

House. Early C18 much enlarged 1769 (rainwater heads) for R.H. Swinburne;
early C19 alterations; c.1932 incorporation of C17 fragments from Beaudesert,
Staffordshire, for S.R. Vereker. Coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings,
quoins and plinth; rear wing English garden wall brick, with rendered plinth;
Lakeland slate roof. Irregular plan; Gothic style. Garden front 2 storeys,
4 wide bays: 2-storey, 4-light mullioned-and-transomed square bay at left. 2
central bays of ground floor and third bay of first floor have similar windows
of 5 and 4 lights, all double-chamfered; fourth ground-floor window a Gothic
canted bay under parapet, with quatrefoil and drip mould above; 2 ogee-headed
sash windows above 5-light second-bay window. Gothic-style windows have patternec
glazing bars; C17 windows all have leaded casements with heraldic panels.
Projecting battlemented parapet above gutter cornice. Hipped roof has corniced
ridge chimneys. Left return has early C18 12-panel door in large shell-hooded
doorcase with much fine carving, imported from elsewhere. Right rear wing has
C17 door and window incorporated in inner return to yard, with Gothic-style
windows on first and second floors in plain stone surrounds; breaking forward
at left of this a plainer 2-storey brick wing with varied windows and rear
pedimented doorcase. Hipped roofs; ridge chimneys.
Early C20 Gothic-style conservatory on left return of main ridge.
Interior: C18 staircase hall has enriched dado rail and 6-panel doors in
architraves under ornamental overdoors; (similar doors throughout front range).
Ramped handrail on fat stick balusters and fluted newels; shaped tread ends.
Gothic stair window has scalloped pointed surround on panelled pilasters.
Ogee-arched first-floor arcade, Gothic arcaded cornice; palmette-and-acanthus
ceiling roses. Morning room has Greek key dado rail, Gothic white marble
chimney piece, similar Gothic ceiling patterns. Dining room walls of arcaded
panels formed by clustered pilasters supporting cusped arches, with pinnacles
on pilasters; C15 stone chimney piece from Crosby Hall; ceiling Gothic-panelled
and grained. Drawing room entirely panelled with stucco Gothic arches under
arcaded frieze, but with some classical detail. First floor west room has C17
panelled interior inserted and grand fireplace with panels of perspective rooms
and Renaissance decoration; high-relief fruit and flower garlands.
Rear wing interior incorporates C17 chimney piece, moulded beams and closed-
string stair with wide handrail, fat turned balusters and moulded square finials
and pendants in principal ground-floor room.
Battlemented wall at rear, with Tudor-arched door, links to 2-storey, 3-bay
brick outbuilding.
Sources: Conyers Surtees, Records of the Family Surtees, Newcastle 1925, p.233.
C. Hussey, 'Hamsterley Hall, Durham' in Country Life, Oct.21st.1939, pp.418-22.

Listing NGR: NZ1425755637

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Hamsterley Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5646430

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

• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide