Listed Building: RENISHAW HALL (1054857)

Country house. c1625 by George Sitwell, with alterations and additions 1793-1808, principally by Joseph Badger of Sheffield, and further alterations of 1908 by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Ashlar and coursed rubble coal measures sandstone, with slated pitched roofs behind crenellated parapets with pinnacles. Irregular plan, comprising a C17 central range, with late C18 and early C19 ranges to east and west, together with domestic offices at the western end of the house. North elevation. Seven bay central range, set back, with canted three storey bay to centre, with stacked glazing bar sashes in flush stone frames. Ground and first floor openings sit beneath continuous stringcourses which step up above window heads. These details are repeated throughout the principal ranges of the house, with minor variations. Gothic entrance porch by Sir George Sitwell, single storey open flat roofed porch supported by square columns, with inset trefoil ended panels. A shallow moulded frieze and cornice, and crenellated parapet between barbed pinnacles. Two bays either side of doorway have stacked pairs of glazing bar sashes to all three floors with the remains of former C17 gables incorporated in ashlar parapet with crenellations above. Advanced seven bay flanking range to west, three storeys below ashlar crenellated parapet, with stacked glazing bar sashes below wedge lintels, and with a broad band course to the head of the ground floor openings. Lower two storey four bay range to west end, with stacked glazing bar sashes below wedge lintels with a shallow parapet with a broad ashlar chamfered coping. Garden elevation to south, asymmetrical, with eleven bays to main ranges, and a five bay centre incorporating the remnants of the C17 gabled house, with the two central bays of three storeys set back with a quoined chimney breast dividing the two bays, terminating in a cluster of three octagonal stone chimneys. Three storeys, with glazing bar sash windows in flush stone frames, as with the north elevation. Advanced two bays to west, with first floor windows windows having been modified to imitate double glazed doors, giving access to shallow curved iron balconies. Further advanced four bay range to west, of two storeys, with a panelled frieze between the ground and first floor window openings. East range, the first bay of which has a two storey canted bay window and a balustrade to the parapet; two bays of two storeys to east and then, well set back, a five bay two storeyed wing 1-3-1, the centre comprising a very broad canted bay and with a doorway with a moulded surround to the angle of the two ranges having a glazed door. Interior. The central part of the house contains the core of the C17 house, including the decorative geometric flagged floor to the entrance hall, now completely open and with Tuscan columns to support the upper floors. The Library, formerly the Great Parlour, has a C17 panelled plaster ceiling and decorative frieze. The Dining Room is by Badger, 1793, with an apse at one end, flanked by pilasters, and with floral plaster decoration to the apse dome. The Great Drawing Room is by Badger, 1803, also the Ballroom, 1808, with ceiling plasterwork containing the emblem of the Prince of Wales, in whose honour the opening ball was given. The Billiard Room, a lobby or anteroom to the Ballroom, was remodelled by Lutyens in 1909. History. The house and its parkland have been associated with the Sitwell family from the early C17, the development of the estate reflecting the influence of the family as ironmasters and colliery owners from the C17 to the C20. The house has become famous through the writings of the three children of Sir George and Lady Ida Sitwell, Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell. Renishaw Park is included in the Gardens Register for Derbyshire at Grade II*, Item No 13.