Description

SE 36 SW COPGROVE BURTON LEONARD ROAD
(north side, off)

3/12 Copgrove Hall

GV II

Country house. c1820 for Henry or Thomas Duncombe. Ashlar and gritstone,
grey slate roof. A square block of 2 storeys with basement and 5 x 7 bays,
built on a sloping site so that the rear and 2 projecting north service
wings are of 3 and 4 storeys. The 3 main facades all have features of
importance. Sash windows with glazing bars, slightly projecting stone sills
and plain lintels throughout. The ground-floor windows are much larger than
those to first floor. East (entrance) front: 3 central bays recessed,
central glazed door flanked by sashes under an enclosed single-storey
portico with Tuscan columns in antis, moulded cornice and blocking course to
entablature. Central first-floor blind recess with flanking sashes. The
flanking bays project and have sashes flanked by narrow 8-pane windows to
each floor. Moulded eaves cornice, blocking course, shallow-pitch hipped
roofs with large stacks straddling ridge to left and right of centre. The
recessed 5-bay service range to right has one 6-panel door and 2 glazed
doors with overlights, 9-pane sashes to first floor. The rear (west) facade
has a central glazed door with 6-pane overlight, flanking sashes and
segmental 2-storey bows to either side with sashes flanked by narrow windows
as east front. Left return (south front): 7 bays, with wide central bay.
Central 7-panelled double doors with a 6-pane overlight and narrow flanking
windows, all under a segmental Tuscan porch with deep entablature, moulded
cornice and blocking course. The central first-floor window is flanked by
narrow blind recesses. Rear: the 2 projecting service wings have doors
opening into the rear yard; the west side of the east wing has an open 4-
arch arcade at ground level; the windows are of 12, 9 and 6 panes; some are
blind recesses. The rear of the house, between the wings, is 4 storeys, the
ground floor with C20 garages. Interior: many original features remain,
including 6-panel pine doors, window shutters, plasterwork and fireplaces in
a variety of stones. The entrance hall has a fireplace of green veined
marble, ceiling frieze with acanthus leaves and Greek key motifs and doors
in fluted architraves. The dining room on the west side has a black marble
fireplace with Tuscan columns and the ceiling cornice is decorated with oak
leaf and vine motifs. The drawing room facing north has an elaborate white
marble fireplace inset with veined brown marble plaques and carved flowers
and fruit. The ceiling frieze has roses and acanthus leaves and the
plasterwork of wall panels and dado has been recently restored at time of
resurvey. The classical architraves are fluted, with paterae and broken
pediments with dosserets. The 2 service wings each have a service stair,
one sealed off, with plain balusters. The centre of the house is taken up
by a very large stair hall top lit by a lantern with casement windows. The
cantilevered stone stairs have a cast-iron balustrade with circle motifs.
The balustrade continues round a first-floor gallery on 3 sides, with 3
round arches on each side. The 6-panel doors to first floor are reeded to
look like double doors, the architraves are fluted, with shallow pyramids
instead of paterae; thelanding and bedroom ceiling cornices have egg-and-
dart and bead-and-leaf decorations. Several fine first-floor fireplaces of
black and grey fossiliferous limestone; moulded brackets support deep mantel
shelves. The memorials in Copgrove Church (qv) show that Henry Duncombe
(d1818) was the third son of Sir Thomas Duncombe of Duncombe Park. Duncombe
Park passed to a nephew Thomas Brown who changed his name to Duncombe
(d1874). A James Brown was at Copgrove in c1860 and his daughter Mary
married Thomas Shiffner (d1873). Their daughter Emily married Francis
Bridgeman who died 1929. The close association with Duncombe Park is of
interest because that house burnt down in 1879 and was rebuilt behind the
surviving early C18 facade in 1891. It is possible that fittings from
Duncombe may have come to Copgrove in the later C19.

Listing NGR: SE3426163386

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26507669

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

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide