Listed Building: FOREMARK HALL (1096531)

Country house, now a school. Early C18, extensively altered and enlarged in 1759-61 by David Hiorns. The contractor was probably Joseph Pickford. Built for the Burdette family. Palladian Style. Sandstone ashlar. Hipped Welsh slate roofs and octagonal lead domes. Four lateral and four ridge stacks. Rusticated basement, piano nobile, attic storey and roof attics. Dentil cornice and balustraded parapet. North elevation of 3-7-3 bays. Giant portico of four unfluted Ionic columns. Double returned balustraded staircases lead up to the main entrance. The podium has a central round-arched entrance to the basement, flanked by similar blind arches. Behind the staircases the basement has two glazing bar sashes on each side. The main entrance has a pedimented eared architrave and glazed doube doors. Flanked on each side by glazing bar sashes in pedimented architraves. Flanked in turn by two glazing bar sashes in eared architraves. Seven smaller glazing bar sashes above in eared architraves. Four roof dormers above. Canted bays on each side are domed and advanced, with three tiers of glazing bar sashes. Small casement windows above the cornice. South elevation of 3-2-3-2-3 bays, the three bay parts advanced. Dentilled pediment to centre three bays. Outer canted bays as on the north front. Rusticated basement. Central podium with curved double returned staircase. Central round arched doorway flanked by lunette windows set in blind round-arched openings. Two glazing bar sashes on each side. The piano nobile has a central pedimented Corinthian doorcase with raised and fielded panelled doors. Flanked on each side by three glazing bar sashes in moulded architraves. Seven smaller glazing bar sashes above in moulded architraves. Roof attic windows as on the north front. Both north and south fronts have similar curved wing walls with round-arched niches either side of a pedimented and rusticated round-arched doorway. These are linked to four small single storey pavilions, square in plan with shallow hipped Welsh slate roofs. Each front has the centre bay advanced and pedimented. Doorways, Glazing bar sashes and blind round-arched niches. Half H-plan service wing attached to east by Doric colonnade. South elevation of 1-3-1 bays;, the centre part advanced and pedimented. The ground floor has a central doorway with C20 doors, flanked on each side by two glazing bar sashes. Five C20 casements above. East elevation of 2-6-2 bays, the end pairs projecting, mostly with sashes. Five bay north elevation with two tiers of glazing bar sashes;. Interior: Entrance hall the full depth of the house, the end bays defined by two composite columns. Moulded cornice. Pair of early to mid C18 stone chimneypieces. Late C18 plasterwork and round-arched niches with Corinthian pilasters and early C19 gothick glazed doors. Four doorways on the side walls have moulded eared architraves of early to mid Cl8 character. Doorways at each end with carved friezes and bracketed cornices. The rooms to the east have dentil cornices and a variety of chimneypieces. The north east room has a re-used chimneypiece of c1730 with eared surround, carved overmantle and broken pediment. The south east room has later C18 plasterwork and chimneypieces. Staircase hall to the west, has an open string staircase around a square well. Carved tread ends and three knopped turned balusters per tread. Fluted newels, wreathed and ramped handrail. The upper landing has a four-bay round-arched arcade. The drawing room fills the west side of the house and has elegant later C18 style plasterwork and two chimneypieces. Unequally divided by a pair of fluted composite columns. The upper rooms have moulded cornices, dado rails, plain eared architraves and a variety of chimneypieces. The basement has a central vaulted corridor running west to west; rooms off with groin vaults supported by Tuscan Doric columns. Listing NGR: SK3328526512