Alfred's Hall is a ruined folly in Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire, England. The Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

dates from 1721 and is "probably the first Gothick sham ruin to be built in England".

History

The building was designed by the local

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst and his friend, the poet

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

. The original 1721 structure was enlarged in 1732 and altered in the 19th century. This included the installation of sculpture, battlements, windows and doors from the manor house at Sapperton. Vandalism in the early 20th century damaged the building. Only one room survives, the other having collapsed in 1989. It is now on the Heritage at Risk Register maintained by Historic England. Its condition is described as "very bad", with an immediate risk of further rapid deterioration or loss of fabric". In 2019 a plan was drawn up for repair and stabilisation, however there was no evidence of work having started in 2021.

Architecture

The battlemented two-storey

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

building has ashlar dressings. Parts of the two-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

front survive and are supported by

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es. The surviving room inside is approximately by and has the remains of oak panelling.

References

{{reflist Bathurst family Cirencester Country houses in Gloucestershire Grade II* listed buildings in Gloucestershire Folly buildings in England