Beaudesert (house) - The Mansion

The Mansion

The Great Hall was a room of some size, 80 ft long by 22 ft wide. The floor of the room was Hopton Wood stone, and it had a panelled wagon roofed ceiling. The wall were panelled to 10 ft high in old oak, and above the panelling hung 17th century tapestries. On the south wall were several traceried windows, consisting of two tiers of four very narrow lights. The upper lights were trefoil headed having such massive framework that the central shaft is equal in width to the lights. On the west wall was a stone mullioned leaded light window some 20 ft in height.

One of the most notable features of the hall was the Waterloo Staircase. It was installed by the 1st Marquess after the battle in 1815. The staircase was situated to the right of the upper part of the entrance hall. It had 15 carved newel posts which were surmounted by openwork carved oak lanterns and balustrades. The staircase was bought by Edward and Ursula Hayward and removed to Carrick Hill, Australia in 1935, where it was reassembled and is now on public display. Carrick Hill House also has certain fireplace and panelling on display which were once park of Beaudesert.

An oak linen fold screen which once stood between the entrance hall and the great hall is now at the museum which houses the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. During demolition many of the bricks from Beaudesert were taken to re-face St James’s Palace, which had suffered from pollution as a result of coal smoke.