I don’t think I have ever come across such a wanton piece of vandalism but then I haven’t seen that much of the world.
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| The hall late 19th century |
That said I can still not get my head around what someone or collection of people have done to Hough End Hall.
This was an Elizabeth country house built in 1596 and even though it has undergone many changes during its 400 years there was much in the place that linked its time as a Tudor family home and centre of a large country estate with its time as a farm house.
As late as the 1950s the internal structure which I guess had evolved from the late 18th century when the property became the home of tenant farmers was still there, including living and sleeping areas, a kitchen and even a mangle room.
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| The restored hall, with altered front entrance 2014 |
All those rooms have gone and in their place are just two open spaces one on the ground floor, the other above and no obvious access to the attics.
And if that were not enough at some point it was decided to create new false ceilings with false beams and plaster which in turn were hidden by another false ceiling of polystyrene tiles.
And in the way of things the ceiling tiles have begun to fall down revealing the imitation beams which themselves have been smashed at the edges and drilled through with a series of holes.
Now I fully understand the commercial considerations that drove the original conversion which was part of a development which saw the errection of the two big office blocks which dwarf the Hall.
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| North elevation 2014 |
Back then a succession of development companies made soothing noises about the importance of the Hall and the final plan was signed off with the promise of a sympathetic restoration which would add nothing and take nothing away.
That sadly proved not to be the case and at least one voice was raised in protest at what was a restoration bodge both inside and out.
Just what the damage to the inside was I have yet to discover, but it is clear that it didn’t stop there and its subsequent history as a restaurant and suite of offices will also have added to the vandalism.
So I return to that simple observation that even given all the commercial considerations operating over the last half century, a pack of architects who went into their chosen profession because they appreciated good buildings could conspire to rip out or hide anything and everything that was unique and historic about it.
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| The Hall during the late 19th century |
But before I am accused of romantic tosh I am well aware of what two centuries of being a farmhouse also did to the Hall.
In its final years the south side had been converted into a smithy and around our Elizabethan building had grown up a lot of additional agricultural buildings most of which were not that well built and had pretty much come to the end of of their useful life by the mid 20th century.
Some however would have been useful in understanding the later period of the Hall's history but they have all gone and so that just leaves the Hall.
Now I was in there yesterday felt that over abiding feeling of loss at what has gone. Daft as it might sound I wanted to touch something of its history even if it was a beam or bit of stone.
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| The hall in 2014 |
And there are bits of beam which have been placed in the most bizarre places and what looks like part of an exterior stone arch in the middle of the ground floor where it has no purpose along with a section of stone window which now forms part of an internal kitchen wall.
Back in 1973 one journalist concluded that perhaps the decent thing was to let it crumble away rather than undergo the indignity of destruction by the hand of countless developers and architects.
I am not so sure. Despite all that has gone before the Hall is still there and the current plans to buy it and use it for the community may yet give it a purpose.
That will never bring back what has been lost but will at least make me feel happier.
Pictures;
Hough End Hall, July 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the hall in happier days from the Lloyd collection
