Description

ABERFORD
SE43NW
LS25
2/1 Becca Hall (house only)
at SE419387

II

Country house, now offices. Late C18, attributed to William Lindley for William
Markham; enlarged and altered in C19. Sandstone ashlar, low-pitched hipped
slate roofs on 2 levels. Original house of rectangular double-depth plan,
enlarged by addition of set-back receding crosswings and extension to rear
between these. Classical style, symmetrical. Main range of 2 storeys and
5 bays, with 3-bay pediment breaking a balustraded parapet, has a tetrastyle
Tuscan porch with entablature surmounted by a shield with scrolled bearers,
a large single-storey canted bay on each side and tripartite sashed window
above (probably C19 alterations), 4 sashed windows as lst-floor and an oculus
in the pediment. Wings of 2 higher storeys with the appearance of 3; each
has a lst-floor sillband, on each floor a tripartite sashed window in a shallow
segmental-headed recess, and above the ground-floor window a low tripartite
mezzanine window; a moulded cornice and low parapet with urn finials on the
corners. Rear of main range remodelled in C19 to make principal entrance
and staircase.
Interior: central reception hall with flying stone staircase (C19); principal
ground-floor rooms have moulded plaster decoration in exuberant late C19 style,
and that in the east wing also has fielded panelling which may be C18. William
Markham was Private Secretary to Governor General of India, Warren Hastings.
(Service wing attached at west end and modern workshop wing to north are not
included in the item).

Listing NGR: SE4192738743

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Becca Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q4878512

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House