Description

SO 98 SW HAGLEY CP HAGLEY PARK

2/126 Hagley Hall
(Formerly listed as Hagley
23.4.52 Hall with barn, coach-houses,
Temple of Thesus and
obelisk)

I

Country house in landscaped park. 1754-60 by Sanderson Miller; restored
c1927 after fire of 1925. Sandstone ashlar with slate and plain tiled roofs
and massive sandstone chimney stacks. Compact and symmetrical rectangular
plan with square projecting corner pavilions. Two main storeys on rusticated
basement with pavilions rising an additional storey higher and having shallow
pyramidal roofs; band between basement and ground floor, ground floor sill
string and moulded eaves cornice with balustraded parapet (main roofs visible
behind parapet pre-1925 fire). Palladian style. Main fronts to south-west
and north-east of 11 bays articulated as 1:3:3:3:1 with pavilions forming
outer bays; central three bays break forward slightly and have a simple
pediment. Side elevations of 1:3:1 bays. Basement has 6-light windows with
rusticated voussoirs; the pavilion windows break forward with the projecting
rising to ground floor sill string level. The windows at the centre of the
side elevations are round-headed with stepped voussoirs. Ground floor windows
have moulded architraves and cornices and are all 12-pane sashes with panels
of blind balustrading beneath the sill string (except in side elevations); the
pavilion windows have pediments on consoles and shouldered architraves. The
first floor windows are all square 6-pane sashes with moulded architraves; the
architraves of the pavilion windows are eared. The additional storey of the
pavilions has a sill string formed by a continuation of the balustraded parapet
coping; the windows are 9-pane sashes with moulded architraves and cornices
and a panel of blind balustrading beneath the sill string. The main south-
west entrance elevation has a balustraded and rusticated perron with a double
flight of steps leading to the central entrance which has a pedimented distyle
Ionic portico and partly glazed double doors with a transom light. At the
centre of the perron is a semi-circular archway providing access to the basement.
In place of the entrance on the south-east elevation is a window with pediment
on consoles and shouldered architrave. Interior (not inspected at time of re-
survey, October 1985): damaged by fire c1925 and now restored. Much ornate
Rococo stuccowork by Francesco Vassali. Entrance Hall, or White Hall, has
much stuccowork with niches containing figures copied from Pitti Palace; stone
chimneypiece by James Lovell with atlantes supporting urns and relief of Pan
offering the fleece to Diana, signed by Vassali. Dining room similarly ornate,
(ceiling reinstated from photographs) and has festoons decorating the walls
with trophies hung from ribbons and emblematic of George Lyttleton's interests.
The gallery along the south-west side also has a Rococo ceiling with a
chinoiserie theme and, in contrast, is divided into three bays by two screens
of Corinthian columns. The Drawing Room or Tapestry Room has survived with
very little alteration and has gilded stuccowork and on the ceilings are
medallions painted by James "Athenian" Stuart. The Barrel Room was created
after the fire and has a barrel roof, Tudor panelling and chimneypiece of
1585. Fireplaces throughout are of elaborate detail. Staircase has not
survived in its original state. Hagley Hall is the last of the great Palladian
houses and was probably influenced by Croome Court, Worcestershire, begun by
Capability Brown in 1751 and a building with which Miller had become involved.
Both Hagley and Croome were inspired by Colen Campbell's Houghton Hall, Norfolk,
begun in 1722. At Hagley the lines are cleaner, the detail is more restrained
still and the emphasis on the ends rather than the centre of the building is
even more pronounced. Hagley Hall is the seat of the Viscount Cobham.
[CL Articles (mainly vols 38, p 520 and 122, p 546 & 608); VCH, 3(i), p 130-1;
BoE, p 177-8; Hagley Hall Official Guide Book).

Listing NGR: SO9195980690

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Hagley Hall at Wikipedia
• Hagley Hall official website
• Wikidata Q5638758

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2