Mellington Hall

The interior retains contemporary layout and fittings including oak panelling and carved doorcases.

House, service wing, tower and mews block, built in Gothic style with a complex series of projecting gables and differing roof lines. Rock-faced rubble masonry with sandstone dressings, under slate roofs and constructed on a plinth. Moulded string course. Ridge stacks and external stacks of the same fabric.

The house is roughly square, massive and with 2 storeys, attic and cellar. The projecting gables are laid out to form half-hexagonal towers on the corners of the house and have raised copings and finials. The principal rooms are in the symmetrical E elevation which has full height canted bays at either end and a central rectangular bay window surmounted by an ornate parapet. The entrance is in the N front within a projecting gable, and is approached by stone steps lined with balustrades. The 6-panelled door is probably original and is under a stone tympanum decorated with a coat of arms and the date 1876, in relief. Doorcase has a segmental pointed arched head, the sides of which are formed by 2 orders of columns with circular capitals. Lancet-style windows with trefoiled heads throughout, in groups of 2 or 3 lights under a roughly 4-centred arch, often with a central transom. The N front also contains a large, rectangular bay window on the ground floor surmounted by an ornate parapet.

The lower service wing to the W terminates in a tower. It is a 5-window range with 1 storey and attic, and a central chimney. The detailing is plain. The windows are formed by groups of 2 lights with pointed heads and the attic windows are within half dormers. The tower is of 3 storeys surmounted by a parapet with lancet-style openwork and supported by consoles. At its NW corner is a hexagonal stair turret, rising to a greater height than the tower and also surmounted by a parapet. The tower has an ornate oriel window at first floor level on the N side supported by a pier. The remaining windows are of 2 or 3 lights grouped together with either pointed or trefoiled heads and there is a plain doorway in the N front. Leading from the W side of the tower at first floor level is a bridge surmounted by a parapet, which leads over a driveway into the parkland beyond.

To the S of the hall is a mews block facing E into a closed courtyard (not accessible). There is a wide arched entrance leading from the W side and half dormers containing hay loft hatches are visible on the inside. The mews block is surmounted by a clock tower with a splay-footed spire. There are further buildings along the N and S sides of the closed courtyard.

Immediately around the hall are car parking areas and raised gardens supported by a retaining wall, which is surmounted by a palisade to the front. Offa’s Dyke passes through the parkland to the W of the hall.