Herstmonceux Castle with Attached Bridges to N and S and Causeway with Moat Retaining Wall England, UK

Description

Listed Building Description

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

HERSTMONCEUX

HERSTMONCEUX PARK 5208

TQ 61SW Herstmonceux Castle, with 13/406 attached bridges to north & south and causeway with moat retaining walls to west.

GV I

Castle/country house. c1441 (when licence to crenellate was granted) for Sir Roger Fiennes; further embellished mid C16 for Baroness and Lord Dacre; altered mid-late C17 for Lord Dacre; part demolished 1776-7 for Robert Hare; restored and rebuilt early C20, mostly 1911-12, for Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lowther and 1930s for Sir Paul Latham. Red brick in English bond with some-blue header diaper work; stone dressings; plain tile roofs. Square on plan with inner courtyard, this originally divided into 4 courts and containing Great Hall, but these and the internal walls of the castle demolished C18; south range and south ends of east and west ranges restored by Lowther, the remainder restored by Latham. 2 storeys with attic and basement in parts; 5 x4 wide bays with tapering polygonal towers at corners and between bays, taller at angles and centre. Built and restored in C15 style: exterior has 1-light or 2-light windows, some transomed; courtyard has more wider windows and some with cusped or round-headed lights; 4-centred-arched or segmental-arched moulded or chamfered doorways with C20 studded board doors; tall plinth with moulded offset; moulded string below embattled parapet with roll moulded coping; rainwater pipes with decorative initialled heads; stacks with ribbed and corniced clustered flues; steeply-pitched roofs with roll-moulded coping, some with hipped ends. South (entrance) elevation: 3-storey central gate tower has tall recess containing wide, panelled door, window of 2 cusped, transomed lights above, and grooves for former drawbridge arms; on 2nd floor two transomed windows of 2 round-headed lights flank coat of arms of Sir Roger Fiennes; flanking towers have gun ports at base, looped arrow slits, machicolated parapets with arrow slits to merlons, and towers rising above as drums. Projecting from gate tower is long bridge (mostly C20) of 8 arches, that to centre wider and shallower, with cutwaters, stone parapet, and central corbelled embrasure with flanking tower butresses. North side: central gate towers formerly had rooms on lower floors, of which truncated walls and 1st-floor fireplace fragment remain; machicolated parapet; at left end of range C17 window openings with later 18-pane sashes. West side: attached causeway containing basement room and with 3 1/2-arched bridge on south side, walling returning as moat retaining walls; main range has a basement doorway with side-lights in chamfered embrasure. East side: the 2nd tower has C16 1st-floor bow window; tall windows to central tower (which containsl chapel); right half of range has older windows blocked and larger C17 replacement openings with later 18-pane sashes. Courtyard: 7-bay arcade to north side and central corbelled stack with clock; 3-bay 1930s Great Hall (now library) on west side with decorative tracery to windows and offset butress; gable of former chapel on east side, has perpendicular tracery to window, a 2-storey bay window and 2 crow-stepped gabled attic windows to its left; several doorways and a 2-storey bay window to south side; hipped-roofed dormers; brick-lined well in south-west corner.

Interior: some original features survive, including fireplaces, privies, doorways, dungeon and brick-lined dovecote in south-east tower; other old features were brought in from elsewhere, including doors, fireplaces, panelling. In south range: porter's room has old fireplace and relocated linenfold door (found in cellar); reused traceried wood panelling in rebuilt dining room fireplace; stair hall has fine early C17 wooden stair (brought from Theobalds, Herts.) with strapwork roundels between square vase balusters, elaborate relief decoration, and lion finials holding shields; at head of stair; elaborate doorcase of same periodl ribbed c