| Print | More

HEDINGHAM CASTLE HOUSE

ABOUT THIS MONUMENT

+ / -

EH Visitor Information
Related Monuments
Related Text
Investigation History

More Pictures
Modern Map
Old Map
Aerial Photograph

Monument Types
Sources
Thesaurus
Description

DESCRIPTION

+ / -

Two-storey, red brick house built for Sir William Ashurst between 1718 and 1719, constructed within the inner bailey of Hedingham Castle earthworks. Alterations occured during the C18th and C19th.

DETAIL

+ / -

MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES

+ / -

(TL 78793588) Hedingham Castle (NAT) (1)

Hedingham Castle, Castle Hedingham was built in 1718-19 by
Robert Ashurst in the outer bailey of Hedingham Castle (TL 73
NE 9). It is a two storey red brick building consisting of two
large connecting blocks. Some material from older buildings
were re-used in its construction. (2)

Hedingham Castle House. House. Circa 1718-19. Built for Sir Robert Ashurst. Grade II* (see list for details). (3)

The Estate of Hedingham Castle was purchased by Sir William Ashurst from the Trentham family in 1713, and the great house there, built in the inner bailey of the castle earthworks (see TL 73 NE 9), was finished by 1719, the year of Sir William's death. His son, Robert, proceeded to lay out extensive gardens for the house (see TL 73 NE 60).

The house is comprised of two block, a main residential, eastern range and a service or western range. The eastern range is a substantial brick building of seven bays of two principal storeys and a service basement and attics. The plan is a relatively standard double-pile arrangement with principal rooms at the centre of the entrance front, facing south, and the garden front, facing north. The arrangement of staircases is less conventional; the principal staircase is in the central room of the southern front and appears to be secondary (though Pevsner thought not (4a)); however, there is no sign of an original staircase at the eastern end of the house. The western, service, staircase was removed at ground floor level, though traces of it survive in the basement and on the first floor. The attic staircase is central as the attics do not extend across the whole house; the roof flats which flank the attics may have been designed as viewing platforms (cf Harrowden Hall, Northants, dated c.1720 (4b)).

The date of the western range is problematic. Although the two ranges are of esentially the same date (both are shown on a view dated 1738 (4c)), the western one has undergone considerable changes, with alterations possibly occuring during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The house was briefly investigated during a survey of Hedingham Castle by the Royal Commission between October and November 1995 following a request from English Heritage. See archive report and plan at 1:1000 scale. (4)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) General reference

OS 1:10000 1975

( 2) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) Halstead RD Essex March 1960 27

( 3) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) Dist of Braintree 1984 4

(4) General reference

RCHME: Hedingham Castle Survey

(4a) General reference

N Pevsner & E Radcliffe 1954 The Buildings of England: Essex (Penguin)

(4b) General reference

J Heward & R Taylor 1996 Country Houses of Northamptonshire (RCHME/HMSO)

(4c) General reference

S & N Buck 1738 A Perspective View of Hedingham Castle (Essex Record Office)

RELATED MONUMENTS

+ / -

Monument Name/No

Resources

Description

HEDINGHAM CASTLE
CASTLE HEDINGHAM

Monument Pictures
Monument Maps
Monument Investigation
Monument Sources
EH Visitor Information

Castle consisting of a ringwork and bailey with a keep dating from 1130-1140. Most of the buildings date from a rebuild dating to the 15th and 16th ce...

MONUMENT NO. 1057870
CASTLE HEDINGHAM

Monument Pictures
Monument Maps
Monument Investigation
Monument Sources
EH Visitor Information

C18th Garden of Hedingham Castle House

MONUMENT NO. 1057874
CASTLE HEDINGHAM

Monument Pictures
Monument Maps
Monument Investigation
Monument Sources
EH Visitor Information

C18th Dovecote in garden of Hedingham Castle House

MONUMENT TYPES

+ / -

COMMENTS

+ / -

Please help us keep our information accurate let us know if you see any errors on this page.

Further information about monuments may be obtained by contacting NMR Enquiry and Research Services , through the English Heritage website.

EH Archives
EH Prints
English Heritage
Heritage Explorer
Heritage Gateway
Images of England
National Heritage List for England
English Heritage Archive
ViewFinder