Walton Hall, Cheshire

Walton Hall

Walton Hall, east front
Location Walton, Warrington, Cheshire, England
Coordinates 53°21′36″N 2°36′08″W / 53.3599°N 2.6023°W / 53.3599; -2.6023Coordinates: 53°21′36″N 2°36′08″W / 53.3599°N 2.6023°W / 53.3599; -2.6023
OS grid reference SJ 600,849
Built 1836–38
Built for Gilbert Greenall
Listed Building – Grade II
Designated 23 December 1983
Reference no. 1139355
Location in Cheshire

This page describes the Walton Hall in Cheshire, UK. For other Walton Halls see Walton Hall (disambiguation)

Walton Hall is a country house in Walton, Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[1] The hall and its surrounding garden and grounds are owned and administered by Warrington Borough Council.[2]

History

The house was built in 1836–38 for Sir Gilbert Greenall, 1st Baronet, brewer and Member of Parliament.[3] The local authority website states it was designed by the Lancaster architect Edmund Sharpe.[4] However this is not confirmed by any authoritative source.[3][5][6][7][8] When Sir Gilbert died in 1894, the house was inherited by his son, Gilbert Greenall, 1st Baron Daresbury, who lived there until his death in 1938.[4]

In 1869–70 the house was extended and offices were added by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin.[8] The extension included a new wing with a tower, containing a billiards room and rooms for guests, and a new entrance on the east front.[3][8] The house and grounds were purchased by Warrington Corporation in 1941. The gardens were opened to the public in 1945.[4] Most of Paley and Austin's extension was demolished in about 1990, but the tower was retained.[8]

Architecture

The house is built in brown brick with stone dressings and slate roofs. The east front has 2½ storeys and two wide bays with bay windows, two crow-stepped gables and three pinnacled octagonal buttresses. The entrance (north) front has a projecting porch. The clock tower to the west has four stages, the top stage containing the clock, and surmounted by a lead-roofed cupola and large weather vane. The south face has a mullioned and transomed window and three crow-stepped gables.[1]

External features

The retaining wall, balustrades and steps between the lawns east of the hall are listed at Grade II.[9] Also listed at Grade II are the former lodge to the hall,[10] and its associated gates, gatepiers and screens.[11]

Present day

The gardens and grounds are open to the public. Close to the hall are formal gardens,[4] and in the grounds are facilities for pitch and putt, crazy golf, and bowls,[2] and a children's zoo.[12] A group known as the Friends of Walton Estate assist in the care and management of the estate.[13] Each year the Warrington Disability Partnership organise a Disability Awareness Day in the grounds.[2] Inside the hall, function rooms are available for hire, and there is a concert room.[14] The Friends of Walton Hall Music Society organises a series of chamber music concerts in the concert room.[15] The hall is also available for weddings.[16] The property was used for the exterior shots in the filming of the BBC drama series Our Zoo.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England, "Walton Hall, Warrington (1139355)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 June 2012
  2. 1 2 3 Walton Hall and Gardens, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
  3. 1 2 3 Pollard, Richard; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 628, ISBN 0-300-10910-5
  4. 1 2 3 4 History of Walton Hall and Gardens, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
  5. ↑ de Figueiredo, Peter; Treuherz, Julian (1988), Cheshire Country Houses, Chichester: Phillimore, p. 278, ISBN 0-85033-655-4
  6. ↑ Price, James (1998), Sharpe, Paley and Austin: A Lancaster Architectural Practice 1836–1942, Lancaster: Centre for North-West Regional Studies, ISBN 1-86220-054-8
  7. ↑ Hughes, John M. (2010), Edmund Sharpe: Man of Lancaster, John M. Hughes
  8. 1 2 3 4 Brandwood, Geoff; Austin, Tim; Hughes, John; Price, James (2012), The Architecture of Sharpe, Paley and Austin, Swindon: English Heritage, pp. 131, 224, ISBN 978-1-84802-049-8
  9. ↑ Historic England, "Retaining wall, balustrades and steps between lawns east of Walton Hall, Warrington (1136083)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 June 2012
  10. ↑ Historic England, "Walton Hall Lodge (now lodge to crematorium), Warrington (1139351)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 June 2012
  11. ↑ Historic England, "Gates, gatepiers and screens at Walton Hall Lodge (now lodge to crematorium), Warrington (1136025)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 16 June 2012
  12. ↑ Walton Hall Zoo, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
  13. ↑ Friends of Walton Estate, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
  14. ↑ Hiring Walton Hall, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
  15. ↑ Friends of Walton Hall Music Society, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
  16. ↑ Weddings at Walton Hall, Warrington Borough Council, retrieved 7 May 2011
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