Hinton House (South Range)

Details

ST4112 HINTON ST GEORGE CP HINTON PARK 7/70 Hinton House (south range, formerly listed as part of Hinton House and Stables) 4.2.58

GV II*

Country house, now divided into three; this section retaining the principal rooms. A former medieval house rebuilt c1500, extended in late C16; current south front of c1630; some mid-C18 reshaping and extensions, probably by Matthew Brettingham: remodelling of west front began c1796 under by Sir John Soane, architect, but taken over in 1801 by James Wyatt, and subsequently by his nephew Jeffry, later Sir Jeffry Wyattville; all for the Poulett family, whose seat this was 1429-1973. Division of house commenced in 1960s. Ham stone ashlar; Welsh slate roofs to very low pitch, hipped in places, screened by parapets; ashlar chimney stacks with moulded caps. Complex plan. South portion largely 2 storeys throughout. Formal 3-bay west front in Gothic style, attributable in part to both Soane and Wyatt. Plinth, octagonal corner turrets, string course, battlemented parapets; the centre bay an angled projection having buttresses to each angle. Two-light cruciform casement windows of 24 panes, the two upper lights in each window having Gothic-arched and traceried tops, with labels, these being one window to each of the 3 faces of the centre bay. The ground floor window to the centre bay has pairs of 3-panel doors below transome level, up 3 steps. South facade, of 10 bays, has bay 1 to match the west elevation, and the remaining 9 bays, set back, of c1630. Unusually wide bays, with plinth, string courses, parapet with quatrefoil panels - perhaps a c1800 addition - cruciform casement windows, those to the ground floor having 48 panes with low cills, and the first floor windows 36 panes, all set in eared architraves with pediments on consol brackets. Between first floor windows to bays 4/5 is a lead plaque bearing the arms of the first Lord Poulett, died 1649, and his wife: the lead rainwater stackheads also bear the Poulett arms. East elevation of 4 bays to match the south: the lower windows, partly below modern ground level, now blocked. Matching return northwards, and on east side of link way to other sections of the house. Interior only partly inspected; behind the south facade are the early C17 rooms, three rooms panelled and the west room having a moulded plaster ceiling with central oval set in a field of strapwork, dated 1636. The large hall and staircase behind the west facade is late C18 in detail, throughout. The former main entrance to the north, with tower and porte cochere, by Sir Jeffry Wyattville, now forms the seperate Tower House, (qv). The kitchen court, to the north-east, is now greatly subdivided as Nos 1-19 Brettingham Court (qv), and the stable court with riding house, to the north-west, now subdivided as Nos 1-6 Wyatt Court (qv). (VCH Somerset, Vol IV, 1978, pp41-44; Soane, J, Professional Memoirs, 1835, p24; Neale, J.P View of Seats, 2nd Series, IV, 1828).

Listing NGR: ST4121810869

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

262321

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Somerset, (1978), 41-44
Neale, J P, Views of Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, (1828)
Soane, J, Professional Memoirs, (1835), 24

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 37 Somerset,

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