Plaish Hall

Details

SO 59 NW CARDINGTON C.P. PLAISH

5/45 Plaish Hall 29.1.52

GV I

Country house. Circa 1540 and c.1580, for Sir William Leighton, incorporating parts of a C15 house, with C17, c.1889 and early C20 alterations and additions. Red brick (English bond) with vitrified blue diapering and grey sandstone dressings; sides and rear of coursed grey sandstone rubble; stone slate roof, with gablets at ends of hall range. H-plan with gabled wings. 2 storeys and attic over basement. Chamfered plinth, stone quoins, and parapeted gables with stone copings and kneelers; pairs of large C16 and C17 external lateral stone and brick stacks with pitched-roofed links to attic and groups of star-shaped and square brick shafts with oversailing caps [that to rear at left a C17 replacement and that to front at left having lost 2 spiral moulded circular brick shafts since 1917 (Avray Tipping)]. External lateral stack at rear of hall range has 3 circular brick shafts with moulded diapering and moulded bases and caps; C19 brick stack at rear too. Pair of central flat-topped late C19 wooden dormers with 3-light wooden casements. South-east front: 1:3:1 windows; C16 and C17 stone double- chamfered 3- and 4-light mullioned and transomed windows (some C19 restorations and insertions), C16 windows with pointed-arched lights and hollow chamfers; ground-floor window off-centre to right possibly replacing former oriel or bay (see straight joints); first-floor half- glazed C19 door off-centre to left has small C19 balcony with scrolled stone brackets and wrought-iron balustrade; C19 nail-studded ground- floor door off-centre to left with C19 moulded and chamfered 4-centred stone archway. Left-hand return front: gabled former garderobe turret off-centre to right; C19 porch off-centre to left with lean-to roof, C19 nail-studded boarded door to right and C15 three-light window to left with pointed cusped lights under a straight head. Right-hand return front: gabled former garderobe turret off-centre to right with half-octagonal stair turret between it and right-hand stack. Early C20 rendered flat-roofed staircase block in angle at rear. Interior: Entrance hall: probably early C20 linenfold panelling. Hall: C19 moulded Tudor-arched fireplace with carved spandrels and heavy overmantel; early C20 linenfold panelling; moulded stone 4-centred archway at upper end has old boarded door with strap hinges. Drawing room: C16 ceiling divided into lozenge panels by thin ribs with small pendants, each painted with the initials "H.R.", small shields and scrollwork; C16 panelling painted to imitate relief with small floral motifs; C16 Tudor-arched stone fireplace with large overmantel consisting of 3 carved round-arched and circular panels, square-in-square panels low down to each side. Dining room: delicate C16 plaster ceiling (of the Wilderhope School) with thin ribs, "JESU" in central foiled panel, Tudor Rose motifs, and frieze with grotesques and roses; probably late C16 fireplace with Ionic half columns and frieze and cornice with acanthus brackets. Staircase: early C20 incorporating reused timbers from former C16 hall roof and gallery (including balusters from gallery and hammer struts reused as newel posts) with closed string, pierced splat balusters, square newel posts with cable-moulded corners and large finials; moulded ceiling beams with run-out stops; first-floor timber framed cross walls. Right-hand bedrooms: one has chamfered Tudor-arched brick fireplace with broach stops. Back bedroom has chamfered Tudor-arched fireplace, remains of stencilled fleur- de-lys wall decoration, and newel stair in turret (formerly carrying on up to attic). Left-hand bedrooms: one has chamfered Tudor-arched fireplace with brick reveals and stone lintel. Centre room has late C17 stone fireplace with deep lintel and moulded cornice. Front bedroom has delicate C16 plaster ceiling with thin ribs dividing it into 4 panels with Tudor Rose motifs at corners. Sometime soon after c.1917 the pair of octagonal stair turrets formerly in the angles at the rear were demolished and replaced by a new staircase block. At the same time a first-floor was inserted into the central hall and many of the old timbers from the former hammerbeam roof and west gallery were- reused in the new staircase. There is a monument to Sir William Leighton in St. Mary's Church, Cardington (q.v.). The brickwork at Plaish is some of the earliest in the county. B.O.E., pp.228-9; H. Avray Tipping M.A., F.S.A., English Homes, Period III, Vol. I, Late Tudor 1558-1649, Country Life (1917), pp.14-21.

Listing NGR: SO5301896480

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

259586

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Shropshire, (1958), 228-229
Country Life in Country Life, (1917), 14-21

End of official list entry

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