Somerford Booths Hall is a grade II* listed

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Somerford Booths Somerford Booths is a small civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In the census of 2001 it was recorded as having a population of 175. increasing to 181 at the 2011 Census. The ci ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England, northwest of Congleton on the bank of the River Dane.

History

The house was built in 1612 as a moated dwelling for Edmund Swetenham. After several generations of Swetenhams the ownership passed in 1768 to Roger Cumberbatch, who then assumed the name and arms of Swetenham. The house was improved for Clement Swetenham in 1817 by John Webb. After several more generations the house was sold in the 1930s. During much of the 20th century the house has been used as offices. In 2010 planning permission was granted to restore it for residential use.

Architecture

The house is constructed in rendered brick, with

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

dressings and a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof. It has an E-shaped plan and is in two storeys plus attics. The entrance front is symmetrical in five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, the central and lateral bays projecting forwards. The central bay comprises a porch, containing a doorway with a

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

inscribed with "Edmund Swetenham" and the date 1612. Above this is a four-light window with

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s and a transom. At the top of the bay is a small

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

with ball

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s at the sides and apex. The recessed bays on each sides of the porch, and the projecting lateral wings, have five-light windows in the ground floor and four-light windows in the upper storey. The lateral wings are gabled and have ball finials. Behind and above the projecting wings is the attic floor that contains three gables, each with a three-light window and more ball finials. The left side of the house has four bays, three of which are gabled. In the ground floor are four sets of French windows; the upper floor contains

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s. At the rear are five symmetrical bays, the central bay having a flat

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

, the others being gabled. The central bay contains a single-storey

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

. The house is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em Country houses in Cheshire Houses completed in 1612 Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire Grade II* listed houses 1612 establishments in England

History

Architecture

See also

References