In Cheshire, Brereton Hall is known from afar by a spectacular motif: twin octagonal towers framing the entrance, at the centre of a long nine-bay brick front. It is an Elizabethan prodigy house of 1586, praised in its own day as "magnificent and sumptuous".
Two towers to dazzle
Brereton was built in 1586 for Sir William Brereton (1550-1631), on land his family had held since the twelfth century; the date can still be read above the entrance (1585). Look at the two corner towers: one holds a stair rising to a small room under the dome; a bridge crossed the gap to reach a banqueting room in the other tower — a rare refinement, cousin to that at Barlborough Hall (Smythson). To take one's dessert "on high", apart, was the height of Elizabethan chic.
A house praised by Camden
The antiquary William Camden, a contemporary, described Brereton as "magnificent and sumptuous": the house displayed armorial glass, panelling, all the pomp of a great lord. The line of the Lords Brereton died out in 1722; the house later served as a school, then became a residence again. Don't miss: the two octagonal towers and their bridge, the nine-bay brick front, the dated entrance.
Did you know?
The Elizabethan "banqueting house" was not the feasting hall but a small pavilion, often perched on a roof or in a tower, to which one withdrew after the meal for the "banquet": candied fruit, sweet wines, sweetmeats. To climb up and taste sweets, away from the tables, among intimates, was a privilege of rank. At Brereton, it was reached by a bridge slung between two towers: pleasure itself was staged.
Info
Brereton Hall is at Brereton, near Sandbach (Cheshire); a private house; exteriors visible from the approaches, interior not freely open. Access to be checked.