In April 2007 a car veered off the road and severely damaged the historic Pytchley Gates, which were originally the entrance to Pytchley Hall (demolished 1824) before they were moved to become the entrance to Overstone School. Parts of the main arch and column were demolished with other damage caused to the surrounding areas. However, Northamptonshire County Council are to be commended for assembling a team skilled in conservation restoration to repair the gates.
Nocton Hall suffered a devastating fire in 2004 and since then has remained a roof-less, though restorable, shell with no sign that the new owners have any inclination to rescue this interesting and attractive house.
The original Nocton Hall burnt down in 1834 and the new house was built by William Shearburn for the Earl of Ripon in 1841. It was then taken over by the Air Ministry in 1940 for use as a hospital for RAF Nocton. The RAF left in 1983 following which it became a residential home. However, in the mid-1990s the business failed and it was bought by a local developer, Leda Properties. A then sadly familiar story played out with the house ravaged by vandalism and theft before the ‘suspicious’ fire in 2004.
The Victorian Society have now declared that the Grade-II listed Nocton Hall is one of their ‘Top 10 Most Endangered Buildings’ in the country. Hopefully this will again focus some attention and, along with the concerns of locals, will perhaps prompt Leda Properties to declare their intentions. One hopes that this is not another case of a developer hoping that further vandalism or fire will give them the opportunity to apply for permission to demolish. Lincolnshire has lost far too many of it’s country houses already over the last 100 years – there is no reason beyond stubborn greed why Nocton Hall should be added to the list.
Sir John Soane was one of the most important Regency architects, responsible for some of the most interesting buildings in the country. However, many of his commissions were urban or were additions to existing country houses. This makes the country houses which he designed alone quite rare – and as a master architect they are usually amongst the most beautiful and elegant buildings in the country. However, despite their rarity and elegance they have often been mistreated.
Pell Well Hall is one such example. Built between 1822-28 for the wealthy iron merchant, Mr Purney Sillitoe, it later became a boys school until the mid-1960s when it passed again into private ownership. This however was a period which ended with the house as a fire-ravaged shell on the verge of collapse. There was widespread concern with the house appearing on the various ‘building at risk’ registers. This led to a concerted effort which removed the unsympathetic Victorian and Edwardian additions (sorry SPAB) leaving an eminently manageable country house. The restoration programme stabilised the building and interior and the house was put on the market about two years ago. Unfortunately, like Soane’s other ‘at risk’ house, Piercefield in Chepstow (also for sale with Strutt & Parker), it failed to find a buyer.
So, once again, the elegant Pell Well Hall is again for sale. Strutt & Parker are offering the Grade-II* house with 4 acres of land, with the guide price of £750,000 reflecting the level of work that will be required to restore this important house (think low single digit millions to do it properly). It could be used for leisure or commercial purposes but really this house cries out for someone to make it a home.
Though not strictly a ‘country’ house, it’s worth including a particularly good piece of news that Moat Brae House in Dumfries, which was threatened with illegal demolition by the housing association which owned it, has been saved following its sale to a preservation trust for £1.
The gardens at Moat Brae were an inspiration for ‘Neverland’ for JM Barrie who visited regularly when at school locally. The house had become neglected but was easily restorable but the housing association had intended to demolish the house without following any of the annoying little things like the proper legal procedure. If they had followed through with their plan, not only would Dumfries have lost a key piece of local architecture but those in the housing association may well have ended up with criminal convictions.
Work on the house and fund-raising for future restoration begins to secure the long-term future of this fine house.
Showing that there are always new threats to country houses, the police recently raided a cannabis factory which had been created in Cheshire.
Field House in Hoole had been rented but no sooner had the tenants moved in than they blacked out the upper windows, installed a hosepipe-based irrigation system from the kitchen sink, and planted a huge cannabis plantation on the upper floors. As has been seen with suburban houses which have been similarly converted, the owners will now face a massive bill to restore the damage from water saturation, ruined floors, destroyed ceilings, holes in walls to accomodate wires and pipes etc.
The Country Seat 