Description

SE 55NW BENINGBROUGH BENINGBROUGH HALL

4/1 Beningbrough Hall

28.2.52

GV I

Country house. Finished 1716. By William Thornton, plasterwork possibly by John Bagnall.
For John Bourchier. House of red brick in Flemish bond with ashlar dressings and
cumberland slate roof; pavilions of mottled pink brick in English garden wall bond with
ashlar dressings and Welsh slate roofs. House of double-pile plan with flanking screen
walls linking it to pavilions; Baroque in style. House: 2 storeys with basement and
attic, 11 x 5 bays. Symmetrical facade; central 3-bay break and flanking paired bays
defined by alternately-raised quoin strips rising into band, above which large paired
console brackets support deep moulded cornice with blocking course over break. 1st
floor and ground floor bands. Central entrance bay has steps with later iron balustrade
up to glazed doorway in architrave set between Doric pilasters supporting bold
entablature with cornice, above which is cartouche with Bourchier cipher and knot
flanked by horses emerging from drapery; 1st floor window above has eaved and shouldered
corniced architrave with triglyph keystones and panel linking it to eaves band.
Windows are 18-panes sashes with flat guaged brick arches and raised cill except for
20 pane sashes to basement and 8-pane sliding sashes to attic (some replaced by side
casements). Hipped 2-span roof with central well and ridge stacks. Screen walls: have
alternate recesses and projections, the latter with niches and balastrade; they turn
at right angles to link house to pavilions. Pavilions: 2 storeys, 1 X 1 bays;
symmetrical, having angle pilasters, keyed round arches to ground floor (blind to
front and rear), impost bands, flat-arched lst-floor windows (blind to returns),
dentil cornices, hipped roofs, leaded ogee-capped cupolas with ball and spire finials
the left pavilion with bell, the right pavilion with wind clock. Rear: garden front
of house: as front but with end bays breaking forward instead of centre; strong
central emphasis given by elaborate doorcase with channelled quoins, attached Ionic
columns supporting frieze and cornice the centre part recessed and with elaborate
cartouche rising into segmental pediment; window above in eaved architrave with
scallop keystone, cornice and blocking course; lead-covered blocking course over
central bays. Mid C19 conservatory attached to left end has corniced orange-brick
lower wall supporting wooden frame with flanked angle pilasters, frieze and cornice.

Interior: a very high standard of craftmanship is displayed throughout, most of the
original work surviving with extremely fine wall panelling with carved over-doors and
roundels, elaborate friezes and cornices, decorative ceilings, heavily moulded fireplaces
with overmantels, panelled doors in architraves; the entrance hall has giant fluted
composite pilasters, the saloon fluted Corinthian columns; particularly fine is the
panelled stair hall with its cantilevered wooden stair with parquet treads, incorp-
orating the Bouchier knot and monogram, and elaborately-carved balusters; the backstairs
of good-quality ironwork; also of interest is the Elizabethan panelling in the attic
rooms. For detailed description see The National Trust, Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire
N Pevsner, Buildings of England, North Riding.

Listing NGR: SE5162258563

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Beningbrough Hall at Wikipedia
• Beningbrough Hall official website
• Wikidata Q4888052

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

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)