Description

BIRKENHEAD

SJ28NE NOCTORUM LANE, Noctorum
789-1/3/208 (East side)
14/11/90 Mere Hall

II

House, now subdivided as flats. c1880. By Edmund Kirby. Brick
with plain tiled roof. Jacobethan style. 2 storeys and attic.
Entrance front of 4 irregular bays articulated by plain
pilasters, with gabled cross wing to left, and advanced wing
to the right. Entrance hall to left of central range, with
advanced heavy stone porch with massive console brackets to
entablature and paired panelled and part-leaded glazed doors.
Paired 2-light mullioned and transomed windows with leaded
lower lights to right and above. Wide 4-light mullioned and
transomed windows in outer bays with paired hipped roofs over
left hand bay, and hipped dormers to right. Moulded cornice
over ground floor windows. Gabled cross wing to left defined
by angle pilasters, with projecting stack with side lights to
ground floor. Single-storeyed range beyond, possibly a later
addition, with pilasters each side of mullioned and transomed
window and at angles, and doorway to right. Advanced 2-bay
wing to right, with 2-light mullioned and transomed windows
and full height segmental bay with conical roof. Garden front
of 6 bays divided by pilasters. Main staircase expressed
externally as circular turret with conical roof, rising out of
square buttressed base with small doorway. 3 advanced bays to
the left, with gabled and pyramidal roofed dormers to attic
storey. Wide bay to right of stairtower, then advanced full
height canted bay with hipped roof. Secondary stair tower to
right, possibly a later phase, then single-storey range also
possibly added. Moulded string course and eaves cornice.
Moulded stone mullioned and transomed windows throughout, with
leaded upper lights. Gable and axial stacks with tall moulded
brick shafts. Stone terrace walls with ball finials to garden.
Much original detail survives inside, notably the stair-hall
with heavy moulded panelling in lobby and entrance hall,
lugged dado panelling with paired Ionic pilasters divided by
twisted shafts above, and egg-and-dart moulding in cornice.
Simpler scheme on upper landings, with lugged dado and main
panels, divided by incised pilasters. Staircase approached
beneath paired arches returned as an arcade supporting the
return flight. Bow window on half-landing in arch with billet
moulding and incised pilasters. Heavy panelled doors, moulded
wood cornices and panelled ceilings throughout principal
rooms.

Listing NGR: SJ2947687515

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26579975

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

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)