Description

FARNBOROUGH
SP4349
16/2 Farnborough Hall
07/01/52 (Formerly listed as
Farnborough Hall including
Garden House)

GV I

Country house. Late C17 for William Holbech; remodelled c.1745-1750 for William
Holbech the younger, probably by Sanderson Miller. Plasterwork by William
Perritt. Ironstone ashlar with grey limestone ashlar dressings. Slate mansard
hipped roof.Ashlar ridge stacks. U-plan. Remodelled in Palladian style. 2
storeys and attic; 2-5-2 bays. North and west fronts have splayed plinth, string
course and quoins and modillion cornice. High parapet with balustrading of
c.1750 to each bay throughout. Recessed centre; wings project one bay.
Half-glazed panelled door. Pedimented Roman Doric doorcase of half-columns and
pilasters; metopes have bucrania and rosettes. Chamfered 2-light mullioned
basement windows, mostly blocked. Sashes in moulded architraves with consoles
and cornice. Inner sides of wings have round-headed niches with similar
architraves. Lead rainwater heads. Remaining one-bay section of similar, lower
service wing, set far back on left. West front of c,170i, of 3-1-3 bays. Centre
projects slightly. Sliding sash door. Architrave with segmental pediment. Late
C18 sashes have thin glazing bars. Moulded stone architraves with keystones
throughout. Pedimented dormer above balustrade has shouldered architrave. Fine
late C17/early C18 decorated lead rainwater heads. South front of 1-5-1 bays. No
string course. Centre has sliding sash door in shouldered architrave and
pediment on consoles. Windows have balustrading below. First floor has square
6-pane sashes. Outer bays have 12-pane sashes. Plain stone architraves with
cornices. One bay section of service wing slightly recessed on right.
Half-glazed door. Tripartite sash above. Interior: the very fine Palladian
Entrance Hall of c1750, formed to incorporate William Holbecb's collection of
antique and contemporary classical sculpture, is one of the earliest of these
rare schemes. Marbled stone fireplace with consoles and Rococo frieze.
Overmantel with pilaster strips and copy of a Panini painting. Broken pediment
with head of Roman boy. Large moulded niches to left and right have imposts and
keystones. Oval medallion portraits of a Severan lady above. Mahogany 6-panelled
doors with original fittings in moulded architraves with pulvinated frieze and
cornice. Moulded oval niches housing busts, on elaborate plaster consoles
between doors and as overdoors. Left: C2 head of boy. Left wall: C18 Emperor
Caracalla; C18 warrior; early C3 Roman lady; Goddess. Right: C18 Septimus
Severus. Right wall: Emperor Hadrian; antique head of a Roman; antique Marcus
Aurelius; C3 head of elderly man. Front wall: head of Goddess; C18 medallion
head of Socrates above window; head of Appollo between windows; Marcus Aurelius
as a boy; medallion of bearded man between window and door; C2 head of a Roman
above door. 2 Neoclassical medallions of a female figure and putto. Ceiling of
octagonal and rectangular compartments with Rococo plasterwork and cartouches of
Diana and Bacchus. Fine floor of light and dark flags, echoing ceiling
compartments. Rococo Dining Room of c.1750, designed to incorporate views of
Rome and Venice by Canaletto and Panini, is one of the earliest of such schemes.
Marble fireplace with decorated pilaster strips and consoles. Overmantel with
large eared picture frame. Broken pediment with black marble bust of
philosopher. Large round-headed niche opposite has moulded cornice and broken
pediment. Moulded 6-panelled mahogany doors in elaborately moulded eared
architraves with vine-ornamented pulvinated frieze and broken pediments. Very
fine plasterwork. 3 pairs of elaborately moulded plaster picture frames of
differing designs. 2 windows in moulded architraves with Vitruvian scroll frieze
and scrolled pediments. Wall panel has oval pier glass in elaborate frame with
urns and large cornucopia. Four wall panels have elaborate trophies, with
musical instruments on the window wall, and guns, bows etc. Library has Rococo
fireplace. Oak open-well staircase and ceiling c.1695; lower flight replaced
1926. Redecorated c.1750. Fluted and turned balusters and moulded handrail,
carved scrolled open string, and dado of bolection-moulded panels. Moulded
doorcases. Fine Rococo plasterwork. Acanthus string course with central ram's
heads. 3 walls have large projecting panels with elaborately moulded eared
architraves and scrolled pediments with central motif. Each panel has a plain
oval niche and moulded console, similar to Entrance Hall, housing a bust. Left
wall has early C3 Roman lady; centre: Emperor Lucius Verus; right: early C2 head
of a lady. Landing has similar panel. Flanking 6-panelled doors in moulded
architraves. Moulded archway with keystone to left. Late C17 moulded 8-panelled
door to right. Oval skylight has very rich high relief wreath. Corner panels
with arms and intials of William and Elizabeth Holbech. Skylight has 4 panels of
Rococo plasterwork and paterae. C19 coloured glass. The Holbech family have
lived at Farnborough Hall since 1692.
(G. Jackson-Stops: Farnborough Hall: National Trust Guidebook; Buildings of
England: Warwickshire: pp.292-293; Gordon Nares: Farnborough Hall: Country Life
11 and 18 February 1954).

Listing NGR: SP4307349413

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Farnborough Hall at Wikipedia
• Farnborough Hall official website
• Wikidata Q5435978

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper