Property description

Northamptonshire has been described as a county of 'squires and spires'. Nobility and gentry have possessed and lived in many great houses, a large amount of which have remained in the same family for centuries. Mears Ashby hall is a prime example. It was built in 1637 for Thomas Clendon but soon passed to the Stockdale family who remained in ownership until about twenty years ago. The current owners have lovingly and sensitively restored and renovated the house continually over this period. They have cherished the property and their aim has been to hand it down to future generations in the best possible condition. The interior has been beautifully designed and decorated to provide an exceptionally gracious and comfortable family house.

Noted in Nikolaus Pevsner's The Buildings of England – Northamptonshire, Mears Ashby Hall is a picturesque gabled three storey house. There were harmonious 18th Century additions to the Jacobean hall and in about 1859 the renowned architect Anthony Salvin was commissioned by the family to extend the property. Salvin was known for his work at Windsor Castle and the Jewel House at the Tower of London, as well as Trinity Hall and College in Cambridge. The Hall is constructed from Lias ashlar with a Collyweston slate roof. The architecture of the main elevation is utterly captivating with a central porch flanked by coupled Roman Doric columns supporting an entablature and cornice below a blank arch with the initials TC. Above is a Dutch gable and attic window with a carved head surmounted by an open circle and obelisk. The Stable Block, Dovecote and Summer House are also Grade II Listed and parts of the house suggest it could pre-date 1637.

Mears Ashby Hall stands on the southern edge of the delightful Northamptonshire village of Mears Ashby with the Church of All Saints in view of the Hall. The village has a primary school, a sports field, 'The Griffin Inn' public house and the Beckworth Emporium delicatessen, garden nursery and farm shop. There are a number of well known private schools in the area which include Oundle, Oakham, Rugby, Stamford, Stowe, Uppingham and Wellingborough. Preparatory schools are at Maidwell, Spratton and Wellingborough.
The market towns of Market Harborough and Olney are within easy driving distance. Road access to major transport routes is via the A45, linking the M1 and the A41. Major towns and cities within reach include Northampton (7 miles) Milton Keynes (27 miles). Leicester (36 miles), Birmingham and Nottingham. Wellingborough station is 4 miles away and London St Pancras station can be reached in approximately 50 minutes. Airports within easy travelling distance include Luton, Birmingham and East Midlands.

SPORTING AND LEISURE    Hunting is with the Pytchley; local golf courses are at Church Brampton and Great Harrowden; sailing and fishing at the Pitsford Reservoir; horseracing at Huntingdon and Towcester; and motor racing at Silverstone.

PROPERTY DESCRIPTION

ENTRANCE PORCH    Decorative tiled floor, wooden seats to each side, heavy oak panelled door opening to

RECEPTION HALL (NW)    Oak floor, open fireplace with stone surround, brick back and brick herringbone hearth, stone mullion windows with window seats and shutters, 18th Century staircase rises to first floor, painted panelled walls, built-in cupboard, understairs shelved cupboard, cornicing, three radiators.

DINING ROOM (NW) 17'3\" x 16'3\" (5.26m x 4.95m). Open fireplace with stone mantelpiece, brick back and herringbone hearth, stone mullioned window to front with shutters, painted panelled walls, cornicing, hessian carpet, radiator.

STUDY (NW) 14'6\" x 13'10\" (4.42m x 4.22m). Open fireplace with wooden mantelpiece and stone surround, brick back and stone hearth, glass fire shield, painted panelled walls, stone mullioned window with shutters, built-in shelved cupboard with glazed door, dado rail, hessian carpet, radiator, telephone point.

GRIFFIN HALL    A magnificent staircase with carved armorial bearings in the form of griffins on each newel post. This Hall is the start of the Victorian wing added by the Stockdale family. The walls are hung with rich striped wallpaper with faux painted ashlar to the dado level and treads and faux painted ashlar to the clerestory above, wonderful doorways with deep casements and pediments over entablatures with conical finials, computer-operated lighting system.

LIBRARY (NW & SW) 24'1\" x 23'9\" (7.34m x 7.24m). With views to the front of the house and over the gardens towards the lakes. Oak floor, bay window with shutters and window seat, sash windows, open fireplace with an ornate veined Sienna marble mantelpiece, neo-Jacobean ornate moulded plasterwork with decorated pendants to the ceiling, cork wallpaper, built-in wooden bookshelves, cornicing, 5 amp lighting, five radiators, television aerial point, telephone point.

DRAWING ROOM (SW & SE) 30'7\" x 17'7\" (9.32m x 5.36m). Double aspect, painted wood floor, open fireplace with finely carved white veined marble mantelpiece and hearth with fluted Corinthian pillars and a carved frieze of swags and masks, black cast iron decorative panels and grate, fitted over mantel mirror with finely carved fluted pilasters to either side, the elegant panelled doors to either side of the fireplace are within similar matching fluted pilaster door casements with moulded arched pediments above, deep cornicing, two sets of French doors to garden terrace, four radiators, three covered, one with window seat above.