Building record 543/1 - Walton Hall

<1> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1, p.736-7 (Book). SCH1389.

Walton Hall. A handsome structure of Elizabethan architecture, in brick, with stone facings upon the angles and gables. It is surrounded by lands having the character of a park of considerable extent. The 'capitas messuage' of Over Walton is mentioned in a document of 1310.

<2> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, p.238 1979 (Book). SCH3078.

Walton Hall is a large asymmetrical house built in 1836-38 in an early Elizabethan style and was altered and enlarged in 1870.

<3> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1139355 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Hall, Grade II listed, 1836-8 altered and extended 1869-70, of stone-dressed brown brick with graded slate roofs. The garden (east) front of 2½ storeys and 2 wide bays is almost symmetrical with 2 crow-stepped gables, and pinnacled octagonal buttresses at centre and each corner. The lower storey has a canted bay window, right, and a square one, left, both of stone with ovolo mullions. There are 3 windows (1-light: 2-lights: 1-light) above each bay window and a lancet to the attic in each gable.

The entrance front (right) of 2½ storeys and 4 bays is asymmetrical: broad, windowless, projecting gable, left; narrow 2-storey recessed bay with windows; projecting 2-storey porch with shaped double doors of oak (each with 11 panels) in 4-centred arched opening of stone with semicircular stone oriel above; right bay with recessed upper storey. A 4-stage clock tower to the right (circa 1870), with stone clock-stage surmounted by shaped lead-roofed cupola and large weather-vane, is linked to the Hall by a screen wall with blank Tudor windows. The left front, much altered, contains an ornate mullioned and transomed staircase window with leaded glazing and some stained glass; leading is removed from most windows on all fronts.

Interior. The hall is panelled in oak, has a quasi- Elizabethan moulded plaster ceiling and round-arched double doors of great height and heavy treatment to the stair. Oak stair with divided return flights. Large heavily decorated panelled doors to upper rooms. The Brobdignagian joinery of circa 1870 contrasts with the lightly-handled gold and white plaster panels probably of 1838 to the shaped ceiling above the staircase.

<4> de Figueiredo P & Treuherz J, 1988, Cheshire Country Houses, p.278 (Book). SCH785.

A large Elizabethan revival house of brick and stone built in 1836 for Gilbert Greenhall M.P., grandson of the founder of the Wilderspool brewery. Hall now much reduced.

<5> Peter de Figueiredo (Independent Consultant), 2008, Walton Hall and Gardens, Warrington: Conservation Statement, R4587 (Client Report). SCH9194.

The present site is the core of a 7,000 acre estate that was formed by the Greenall family from 1814, when the nucleus in Walton was acquired by Thomas Greenall from Sir Peter Brooke of Norton Priory, together with lands in Daresbury and Higher Whitley. The Greenall family made a fortune from brewing; their successful Wilderspool Brewery providing the means to develop a landed estate.

Walton Hall was constructed in the early 1830s for Edward Greenall, son of the founder of the brewery. He died in 1835, before the house was completed so the first occupant was his son and heir Gilbert Greenall, who was later knighted for political services. He added an extension in the 1870s. After Sir Gilbert Greenall died in 1894 , his son Gilbert, the second baronet inherited the estate and further alterations were made in the first decade of the 20th century. As well as serving as Chairman of Greenalls, the second baronet was a leading agriculturalist and equestrian figure. He held a number of pubic appointments and was given a peerage in 1927, taking the title of Lord Daresbury of Walton. Following his death in 1938, the Estate was put up for sale and was purchased by Warrington Council, together with 171 acres of grounds, in 1941.

The original 1830s house is in the Elizabethan Revival style, and was constructed of brick with stepped gables, mullioned bay windows, tall chimneys and turrets of sandstone. The architect is said to be Edmund Sharpe. The style of the 1870s extensions followed the general character of the original, but was High Victorian Gothic in style rather than Elizabethan, and incorporated a three storey tower with a castellated parapet and steeply pitched roof, and a separate clock tower. With changes made to the interior, some of the bay windows were also altered at this time. It is likely that the architects of the extension were Paley and Austin, who were the successor firm to Edmund Sharpe, and who designed the church at Walton for Gilbert Greenall in 1882.

The early 20th century alterations and extensions affected the service accommodation, proving an enlarged laundry and meat and game larders. As a result of the post war truncation of the house, the clock tower is now isolated from the main part of the building. The scars on the brickwork show where the 1870s extension was removed.

The interior also shows traces of the different periods of construction. The present entrance and central hall date from the 1870s, together with the imperial staircase. The fine plaster ceiling over the staircase and the first floor landing, however, are probably of the 1830s. The former reception rooms on the ground floor have decoration of the 1870s, including the fireplace with a marble overmantel carved by the sculptor Warrington Wood showing Diana the huntress. Originally a porch led into this room on the south side. This was converted into a bay window in the 1870s. The large reception room to the right of the entrance hall was originally two separate rooms with a dividing wall. The bay window was enlarged when the two rooms were amalgamated in the 1870s to form a library.

When the Hall was converted for public use in the 1970s, the interiors were altered to provide service areas and improved circulation. This included the removal of the wall dividing the original dining room and drawing room to create one larger room with a sliding screen, and partitioning off part of the former dining room to create a wash up area. The library was subdivided to form a kitchen, and the gun room was converted to toilets. Bar fittings and counters were installed in several rooms. At first floor level, the large reception room was created by amalgamating four bedrooms, and an enlarged landing area was formed.