Description

BRERETON C.P. BRERETON GREEN
SJ 76 SE
7/8 Brereton Hall
6/6/1952

GV I

Hall, now school, 1585 altered 1829 and late C19. Stone-dressed brick;
leaded roof to front range, slate roofs to cross-wings. The present
building suggests a reversed E plan, probably with a great hall behind
the gateway forming the central bar, demolished and replaced by an 1829
conservatory. Front range has basement and 2 storeys with turreted
central gateway and a bay of 2 windows to each side flanked by slightly
projecting cross-wings of considerable depth forming the sides of an
open court to rear. Gateway has replaced Gothick glazed door-screen in
basket-arched opening with stone steps; the storey above has a
continuous mullioned and transomed window across entrance bay and
turrets, with heraldic panel below and above - Brereton plays 2nd
fiddle to the royal arms. The turrets were linked by a basket-arched
bridge incorporating reused stonework, shorn of their cupolas, slightly
foreshortened and crenellated in 1829. Side bays have plinth, low
2-light recessed mullioned casements to basement and 2-light recessed
mullioned and transomed casements to both main storeys; crenellation
added in 1829. Each cross-wing has a pedimented 2+ storey canted bay
window with low 3-light mullioned window to basement and 6-light
mullioned and transomed window to each main storey; 2-light mullioned
and transomed window, above pediment, to attic; plinth, band at 2nd
storey ceiling; coped gables with ball finials. All corners of the
building have flush quoins; windows to front, formerly leaded, were
reglazed with large panes late C19. Cross-wings have canted bay
windows on returns and on rear gable-ends - bay window on inner return
of right wing removed and that on outer return of left wing altered and
now hip-roofed. 6 or more rectangular brick chimneys, not prominent.
Rear wall of front range opposite gateway is blank, with signs of
rebuilding now giving onto C19 metal conservatory. Leaded casements at
the rear.
Interior:, radically altered in 1829, shows only fragments of earlier
work: landing and vestiges of a probable great open-well stair of oak
at junction of front range and right cross-wing; (but the date of
balustrades is doubtful); parts of service stair with bulgy,
crudely-turned balusters in each cross-wing; oak-panelled front room
of right cross-wing has overmantel of Elizabethan character with
heraldic panels (bear's head in coronet-Brereton); rear room in right
cross-wing has good Elizabethan chimneypiece with tapering pilasters
and a royal coat of arms; annexe of panelled middle room in left
cross-wing has fine Jacobean chimneypiece with Caryatid right and
Atlas left carrying overmantel with winged and arrow-tailed dragons
and: Brereton arms inscribed 1633: OPITULANTE DEO; rear room in left
cross-wing has painted panelling; panel in lower rear room of left
cross-wing inscribed "DOE NOTHING THIS DAY WHEROF OF THOU MAYEST REPENT
TOMORROWE. KNOW HIM WELL WHOM THOU MAKEST OF THY COUNCEL LEST HE
BETRAY THY secret", surrounded by strapwork and with a man's head
vigorously protruding a forked tongue; 3 and 4-board doors in attics.
Features from 1829 include ornate plaster ceiling to hall and
geometrical stone stair with mahogany rail on cast-iron balusters.

Listing NGR: SJ7812664855

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Brereton Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q4961828

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

• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)