Listed Building record MDO3923 - Hanford House, Hanford

A country house built for Sir Robert Seymour between 1604 and 1623, with later alterations and additions. It has stone walls and is roofed with stone-slates; it has two principal storeys with attics and cellars and is planned around a square courtyard, on the model of an Italian palace. A service wing was added in the 18th century, and in the 19th century the interior was remodelled and courtyard roofed over.

ST 84561112 Hanford House (NR) <2> Hanford House (845111) is set on ground which falls away to S and E to the R Stour, about 1/4m away. The mansion has stone walls and is roofed with stone-slates; it has two principal storeys with attics and cellars and is planned around a square courtyard, on the model of an Italian palace. It was built for Sir Roberty Seymer between 1604 and 1623. In the 18th century a staircase was renewed and a service wing was added on the W. Extensive remodelling of the interior took place in the 19th century, and in 1873 the courtyard was roofed over and a wooden galley was inserted on the N, possibly in place of an earlier one. At the same time the leaded casements were removed from many of the mullioned windows and sashes were substituted. Hanford House, distinguished as a well-preserved example of an early 17th-century country house, is also of importance for its plan. The Italian idea of a small enclosed courtyard is interpreted in a manner appropriated to a northern climate, large inward-looking windows on the ground and first floors taking the place of the open loggias of the south. The strict symmetry and the slightly ponderous grandeur of this medium-sized house well illustrate the attitude of English architects toward houses for the affluent in the early Jacobean period. <3> The house is of two storeys with attics. It is built of stone, though it has been faced with stucco on the north west front. The roof is of stone slates. The house is an E-shaped building with wings to the north west. A further wing between the extremities of the east squares the house while leaving a centre courtyard. This wing is pierced by an archway which opposes the projecting porch of the E-building. The courtyard is now ceiled, but the original building is in good condition, though there have been some minor modern alterations. Some of the stone mullioned windows and moulded doorways have been renewed. There are modern building additions on the south west side of the house. <1> Hanford School (formerly Hanford House). <4-5>

Record last edited

Feb 20 2023 9:48AM