comprising thirteen stringer-mounted splat spindles, carved to both sides as fluted pilasters ornamented with swagged bellflower chains and bands of guilloche, nine on the rise, four level for the landing, the terminating newel similar but with a greek-key kick-scroll to finish,

The mitred foot indicate these were made for mounting in a closed stringer staircase – more usual for this period. A joiner has evidently experimented with cutting and paring one of the double sided splats in order to make a pair of flat-backed panels.

The Manor of Beaconsfield can be traced back to the 13th Century: “Halle Barn” (or “Hallbarne”) was one of four estates bought by Anne Waller in 1624. The house itself is thought to have been built by her son, Edmund Waller, the poet and politician, around 50 years later. If the reputed provenance of these carved oak stair spindles is correct, they could well have dated to this phase and their extraction undertaken in the later alterations.

The original house was rectangular and three storeys high with the south wing being added by Waller’s grandson. The estate remained in the hands of the Waller family until 1833 when it was sold to Sir Gore Ouseley who built a new southern front.

In 1881, following several changes of ownership,  Edward Levy-Lawson, editor of the Daily Telegraph and the first Lord Burnham, acquired possession. He wished to use Hall Barn for entertaining in a way appropriate to his position as proprietor of a major newspaper, and for this purpose he further enlarged the house, creating a new ballroom wing on the east side. However, in 1969 under the fifth Lord Burnham, work began on making the house smaller, simpler and more adapted to modern life. Today the outside of the house closely resembles that of the original building.

Info sourced from: The Beaconsfield Historical Society website “The Great Houses”.