Details
SO 38 NW and SO 38 SW
5/133 and 9/133
1/12/51
LYDBURY NORTH C.P.
WALCOT
Walcot Hall (formerly listed as Walcot)
GV
II*
Country house. Rebuilding of an earlier house after 1763, by Sir William
Chambers for Lord Clive, added to in early C19, and remodelled and reduced
in size after 1933 by A.T. and Bertram Butler of Wolverhampton. Red
brick with ashlar plinth and dressings, and hipped slate roof. Large
irregular U-plan with ballroom projecting to south-west. Basement,
2 storeys, and attic. Plinth, flush quoins, coped parapet with balustrading
above windows, 9 segmental-headed dormer windows, and 7 stacks; 4 lead
downpipes with fluted funnels and rainwater heads with cast griffins.
11 bays; glazing bar sashes with gauged heads; 2 stone lions on low
walls flanking 4 steps up to central one storey, 3 bay, ashlar Roman
Doric portico with unfluted columns and pilasters; half architrave,
triglyph frieze, dentil cornice and lead top; 2 central 3-panelled
doors with probably circa 1933 doorcase consisting of moulded architrave,
triglyph frieze with paterae and console brackets supporting dentil
cornice. South-east front: 2:5:2 bays with recessed centre; parapet
with balustrading in centre over outer bays and above third, fifth and
seventh bays; dormers behind. North-west front: 8 irregularly spaced
bays, partly remodelled in the 1930's. Service wing: projecting to
north-east, also remodelled in 1930's; parapet and hipped roof with 3
ridge stacks; 9 bays to rear with glazing bar sashes, and panelled
doors in end bays with circa 1933 Tuscan doorcases. Wall projecting
to north-east approximately 8 metres long and 2.5 metres high; returning
to south-west with 2 piers and 2 one-storey brick lodges with hipped
roofs flanking drive. Early C19 Ballroom adjoining to south-west; one
storey with stone cornice and blocking course, and hipped roof with 3
stacks to north-west, 7 bay side elevation with large 8-pane sashes;
north-east front facing courtyard with balustraded terrace, 8 steps up
to two 5-panelled doors with ashlar porch, and linked to main block by
flanking arcaded screen wails. Interior: remodelled circa 1933 in a
late C18 style but retaining some original features. Panelled doors
throughout with moulded architraves, anthemion friezes, and console
brackets supporting dentil cornices. Entrance hall: enlarged circa 1933
with coupled-column screen and 4-flight staircase in the style of the
early C18; Drawing room to left at front: Chambers cross-beam ceiling
with palmette motifs and paterae; frieze with amphora; Chambers
fireplace consisting of pilasters with acanthus capitals, fluted frieze
with putti and urns, central plaque with horn-of-plenty, cornice, and
C18 grate; South room: cross beam ceiling and probably C18 fireplace
with two griffins on frieze; Ballroom: ante room with moulded anthemion
frieze and cornice, and double folding doors to ballroom with moulded
frieze and cornice and 2 large ceiling roses. Lord Clive bought the
Walcot estate in 1763 and employed Chambers to enlarge the earlier house
on the site; Mr Stevens bought the estate in 1933 and employed the Butlers
to remodel the house, which included removing a central pediment on the
entrance front and an early C19 tower at south-west corner, greater
alterations to other facades, and simplifying the plan by enlarging rooms
and creating a central courtyard which separated the ballroom from the
main block. Country Life, Vol. LXXXVI, October,14, 1939, pp.388-92,
and Vol. CL, November1971, pp.1366-8; N. Pevsner, B.O.E. Shropshire,
p.307.
Listing NGR: SO3488484979
