In 1971, I acquired Brewood Hall. It was in a fairly sorry state but, having done what repairs and redecorations could be afforded at the time, it became my family home. Over the years, more extensive conservation and redecoration work has been carried out as possible..As I'd explained in a post on maintenance in 2014 here, trying to keep any property in reasonable condition over a long period presents recurring problems, particularly when the building dates from 1640 and is also Listed Grade II. That earlier post describes partial external repainting, together with roofing and general repairs carried out in 2013-2014.
In 2018, a further post here described path repairs in front of the Hall in 2016 and further repairs and improvements to the patch at the rear of the Hall in 2017. Also in 2017, an impressive 'Genie' self-propelled articulating boom was brought onto the site to allow remedial work to the cement quoins on the front elevation and re-pointing of brickwork at high level. Finally, traditional path 'edgers' were sourced from a reclamation yard to border the path in front of the Hall.
The list of jobs described in that 2018 post wasn't exhaustive - one unexpected repair was the re-hanging of the one of the two gates on the main drive. In high winds, this gate had broken free from its 'mooring' and slammed shut, wrenching the lower gate hinge pin out of the brickwork. This was finally rectified in October 2017.
Repairs at Brewood Hall: Re-hanging of gate.
The Ice House
Perhaps the most unusual restoration project, back in 2007-2008, was excavating the Ice House, used for food storage at larger houses prior to refrigerators. The original work is described in the earlier post here, which concluded:-
Access is via brick steps from ground level. This entrance has a brick arch roof and brick recesses on the left and right. There was originally a sandstone lintel and wooden door frame and door. When more studies have been undertaken, a replacement lintel and door will be fitted.In fact, well before the work of excavating the Ice House was completed, the door frame had seriously rotted, the door hinges had rusted through and both the stone lintel and part of the brick arch above the entrance had collapsed. But it was not until 2010 that work to replace the lintel and door was carried out, as illustrated below:-
Custom-made stone lintels to repair the damaged area over the entrance to the Ice House. Note the wooden former used to reconstruct the brick arch above the entrance.
Brewood Hall: Fitting the replacement 'hit-and-miss' style oak door to the Ice House in 2010. Note the new stone lintel above the doorway.
Unfortunately, because of the extremely damp conditions, the substantial oak door warped badly after a few years and in 2021 repairs were carried out by Jim.
The Ice House: Repairs to the oak door in 2021
Brewood Hall Ice House: View of Ice House door after repair in 2021
Back in 2008 during excavations of the Ice House, we'd been unsure of the function of the rectangular capped-off 'Chimney' in the roof of the Ice House. Subsequent research suggested this was a chute to facilitate getting ice into the Ice House. Presumably, when the original use ceased, the 'Chimney' was capped-off and grassed-over.
The Ice House: Capped-off 'Chimney' in the roof of the Ice House.
During the 2021 repairs, Jim dug a small test hole in the Upper Lawn to locate the top of the capped-off 'Chimney' but it didn't reveal any further clues as to the original arrangements.
Brewood Hall Ice House: Test hole in upper lawn to locate the closed-off 'chimney'
Related posts on this website
To see all my posts on Brewood Hall, select Label 'Brewood Hall' or click here.
My pictures
Where necessary, clicking on an image in a post will display an 'uncropped' view or, alternately, pictures may be selected, viewed or downloaded, in various sizes, from the albums listed below.
Pictures showing the ice house over the years are in the album The Ice House. Pictures showing a selection of works carried out in 2016 and later are in the album Repairs at Brewood Hall.
To see all my pictures of Brewood Hall, Brewood and the surrounding area pictures, go to the collection index at ,a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/janfordsworld/collections/72157626483102130/">Brewood, Staffordshire
