Description

SE31NE
3/49
11.4.73

WALTON
WALTON PARK
Walton Hall

GV
II*

Country house, now hotel, c1768 (Pevsner p536). Ashlar, stone slate roof.
3 storeys with basement. Classical style. Double-pile. 8-bay symmetrical
facade. Plinth. Facade divided 2-1-2-1-2 by giant channelled pilaster strips
with the centre 4 capped by shallow pediment. Central doorway set between the
4th and 5th bays has elaborate double doors with architrave and carved on lintel
a relief sculpture of an otter with a trout in its mouth (the Waterton crest).
Early C19 3-bay Tuscan single-storey porch in front of the 2 centre bays. 2-pane
sash windows with raised surrounds, eared to ground- and 1st-floor windows. Cornice
and blocking course. Tympanum of pediment has carved achievement of arms with
motto "BETTER KYNDE FREMB THAN FREMB KYEN" (the Waterton family). Hipped roof with
one ridge stack between 5th and 6th bays. Rear: U-shaped with 2-bay projecting
wings. 6 bays. Central gabled porch set between tall round-headed stair windows.
Left wing obscured by modern extension. Right wing has Tuscan porch and doorway
with architrave to left of Venetian window with plain sash windows above. 2 stacks
to ridge, 2 to left wing, one to right wing. Left-hand return of 5 bays. 2 bays
nearest front have some windows as front, other bays have plain raised surrounds.
Right-hand return has single-storey outshut slightly set back with quoin pilaster
strip: basement at lake level has 3 segmental-arched boat entrances (now windows)
9 bays of sash windows. Hipped roof.

Interior: oak-panelled entrance hall probably reused from earlier house on the site
with elaborate Jacobean carved oak overmantel. Stairhall has C19 cantilevered
3-storey open-well staircase with turned balusters. Landings at each floor level
have original doorways with architraves, fluted friezes, dentil cornice and 6-panel
doors with raised-and-fielded panels. The stairwindow has wooden fluted surround
with imposts and rusticated stone voussoirs, the keystone carved with the Waterton
crest in relief. The outshut has 5-bay fish-bone king-post roof with hip and
windlass formerly for lifting goods from basement. Spectacularly sited on an island.

The C19 home of the famous explorer Charles Waterton who created perhaps the earliest
bird sanctuary in Britain on the island.

Listing NGR: SE3638416263

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Walton Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7966752

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House