Listed Building: BALBOROUGH HALL, WARD LANE (1108972)

Country house, now a school. Built for Sir Francis Rodes, a judge in the Court of Common Pleas and patronized by the Earl of Shrewsbury. Dated 1583 on the porch and 1584 on the Great Chamber overmantel. Probably by Robert Smythson. Sandstone ashlar and render. Roofs hidden behind battlemented parapets. Chamfered plinth and moulded bands linking the heads of all the windows and sometimes stepped up over them. Compact square plan with canted and polygonal bays. Basement and two storeys, the bays rising to an extra storey. The principal elevation faces south and is of five symmetrical bays. Square projecting central porch bay has a flight of balustraded stone steps leading up to the doorway which has coupled Tuscan Doric columns and pieces of entablature. Four-centred arched doorway with moulded arch and carved spandrels. Two carved coats of arms above, one above the other. Six- light window above with two major mullions and two transoms. Carved coat of arms above again. The recessed bays on either side have to the basement a cross window and a 3-light mullioned and transomed window. Four-light windows above with a major mullion and two transoms. Two similar windows above. Polygonal bays have a 2-light window to the basement and three tiers of windows above of 1-2-2-2-1 lights with two transoms, except the top storey which has one transom. North elevation of five bays has three tiers of windows as to the south. Square projecting bay in the centre has four-light windows, the centre two lights breaking forward to a point. Single lights to the returns. Four-light windows on either side with two transoms and a major mullion. Irregular four-bay east elevation has a central canted bay and projecting canted porch dated 1825. Four-centred arched doorway with carved spandrels. Two tiers of windows above of 1-2-2-1 lights. To the left area 5-light and a 3-light mullioned and transomed window. Six-light window above with a major mullion and two transoms. Similar window above again. To the right are a 5-light and a 3-light mullioned and transomed window. Above is a 6-light and a 4-light window with two transoms. Above again is a similar 6-light window. The west elevation has a central canted bay. Cross windows and early C19 glazing bar sashes. Six-light mullioned and transomed windows to the top floor. Interior: The chapel (formerly the Great Chamber) has a decorative plaster ceiling and a stone chimneypiece with paired fluted columns and richly carved overmantel. C18 fluted pilasters. Early C19 stained glass. Adjoining Music Room has a richly carved wooden chimney piece, fire back dated 1616. Plaster overmantel with coat of arms, dated 1697. C18 bolection moulded door surrounds. Staircase hall in the centre of the house, originally open, with 3-light mullioned and mullioned and transomed windows. Open well staircase with two heavy turned balusters per tread. C19 gothic arches to landing. The entrance hall has early C19 gothic fireplace, doors and shutters. One C16 four-centred arched doorway. C19 porch has a gothic rib-vault. The second floor has a corridor along the west side with five moulded four-centred arched stone doorways. C19 gothic doors. The south west room has late C16 panelling. East corridor has four similar doorways. Timber spiral staircase from the first to second floor. West corridor on the first floor has four similar doorways, one with a latin inscription and carved spandrels. The north west room has C16 panelling. The south west room has a C16 plaster ceiling and C18 panelling. Mid-C18 eared chimneypiece. The middle room on the west side has a C16 plaster frieze. Source:Robert Smythson & the Elizabethan Country House by Mark Girouard, Yale University Press 1983.