Description

TL 85 NE
5/86
14.7.55

STANNINGFIELD
COLDHAM HALL LANE
Coldham Hall

GV
I

A large country house, 1574, for Robert Rookwood. 2 storeys and attics; hall
range recessed between two cross-wings. Red brick with diaper-work in burnt
headers at front and on hall chimney; parapets and parapet gables of brick with
limestone copings and ball finials. Plaintiled roofs with rear and gable
chimneys of red brick; groups of 2 and 3 octagonal shafts (mainly rebuilt C19)
with heavy star-tops and moulded bases on a square plinth; the hall chimney has
original moulded bases, with rebuilt shafts. Mullioned and transomed windows
of rendered brick, those at ground floor and in the gables and porch have
pediments above; leaded lights, some with crown glass, some with original or
early iron casements and furniture; a splayed bay window to the great hall with
mullions and transomes. Dummy windows in the left-hand gable, masking the
chimney. 3 storey entrance porch with 2 orders of fluted, strongly tapered
pilasters clasping the angles. Semi-circular arched entrance within square
frame; the pediment has a small tablet with the date 1574 and above it, R.R.
(the initials of Robert Rookwood), Oak panelled door within the porch. An
entrance doorway into each wing, with elliptical arched head in a square frame;
oak panelled door. The great hall, open through 2 storeys, has a large open
fireplace with arched head and, above, a crude black-painted pediment with ball
finials; panelled cross-passage screen with pair of doors and blank arcading,
turned balusters, etc; the ceiling plastered in 4 quadrants, each having a
central square ribbed panel with acorn and oak-leaf motifs in high relief, the
same motif repeated in the corners of each quadrant. The solar adjoining the
minstrels gallery has full wainscotting and a limestone fireplace surround with
arched head and classical pediment above. The main staircase in short straight
flights; the landing has a full-height screen of 2 tiers of turned balusters
with a middle rail. Doorcases and window mullions etc., are ovolo-moulded in
the new fashion. A long gallery in the roof space passes above the great hall
and is 32 metres long. Internal alterations c.1770 include: a Roman Catholic
chapel leading from the long gallery with delicate plasterwork. In the
Strawberry Hill Gothick manner - architraves, pilasters, etc., and a dove above
the altar wall, with radiating sunlight around it; a number of rooms with
panelling, fireplaces and other good joinery. Mid C19 alterations, including
loggias on the east and south side, now removed, but various window alterations
at the rear and a service wing at the north end remain. The house restored
c.1980. Ambrose Rookwood, son of Robert, was involved in the Gunpowder plot and
was executed 1605. The Rookwood family continued in the Roman Catholic faith,
as shown by the 2 chapels and several priest-holes at Coldham.

Listing NGR: TL8640355851

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Coldham Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5142520

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5