Description

SUTTON C.P. ASTON LANE
SJ 57 NW
South West Side
2/136 Sutton Hall.
8/1/1970
GV I
Hall, now farmhouse, late C15 or early C16, extended late C17 and early
C19. Brown brick; roof replaced in cement tiles. 2 storeys plus
attics. The earliest part, left, 2 storeys with gable to front,
contains late medieval oak framed great halls of unusual type, cased in
brown brick, Flemish bond to front, with 2 large lateral stone
chimneys rebuilt in brick above eaves; late C17 right wing of 2
storeys plus attics has sandstone plinth, 2-course brick bands at 1st
and attic floors, flush gable chimney and partly leaded cross-casement
to stair; cross-wing at rear of great halls is partly Tudor and partly
1805 with 2 storey 2 window face to garden in Flemish bond brickwork
with pale headers and recessed small-pane sashes. Miscellaneous
windows, some altered, mostly under flat gauged-brick arches; 2 doors
on garden front of C17 wing, of tapered boards.
Interior. Only the principal rooms accessible at time of survey
(1984) are described. Two superimposed great halls, both equally rich
and forming part of the late C15 or early C16 structure are the
feature of unique interest.
Lower storey: passage behind entrance; parlour to left has jowled
corner posts, moulded oak beam structure with original boards between
moulded joists laid flat, cross-beam against front wall, Tudor
fireplace now concealed and door of 5 raised and fielded panels in
massive frame with raised strapwork; lower great hall (behind parlour)
has rebuilt left wall with parts of 2 moulded oak posts with heavily
moulded brackets on attached octagonal colonettes with belled-out
caps, and, probably inserted, Tudor fireplace of stone opened out to
form window embrasure, 3 complete moulded oak posts on right side,
massive oak framing with an intermediate rail, fine ceiling structure
of moulded oak beams, window with closely-spaced hollow.-moulded oak
mullions (now giving onto passage), graffito of male figure in courtly
dress (side view) scratched in plaster panel, looking C15, and (in
cross-wing rear, left) a smaller Tudor stone fireplace. The moulded
principal posts to the lower and upper great halls are continuous
through both storeys with integral brackets carved from the stumps of
branches of the trunks at 1st floor and truss-springs, all closely
matched in height and section, a remarkable feature, showing that the
lower and upper halls were parts of the original structure, with the
moulded faces of the posts standing proud of the wall faces. Late C17
open-well oak stair has solid panelled newels, heavy moulded rails and
no balusters. Upper storey: The upper hall has (probably C18) replaced
boarded floor; the lower part of the moulded post-faces cut
away, probably during reflooring; 2 fine trusses with deeply moulded
arched tie-beams, canted collars and moulded posts between, good
roses, moulded roof-panels with quatrefoil windbraces; doorway with
ogee head cut into beam at front of hall, in massive oak framing with
an intermediate rail; a Tudor stone fireplace and another in alcove to
left at rear (in cross-wing). The mouldings, colonettes and brackets
on the principal posts are similar to those in the lower hall.
Oak framing in parts of the building not inspected in detail suggest
that the lower and upper great halls have been shortened. The timber
structure cannot be dated precisely without further investigation.
The marriage of Sir John Warburton, who possessed the Hall, to Joan,
daughter of Sir William Stanley of Holt "the richest commoner in
England" and chamberlain at Henry VII's court could have provided the
money and incentive for an innovative plan admirably executed during
the 1470s/80s, but Sir John's family built a similarly rich great hall
with some parallel features at Dutton nearby in 1539-42, and
intermediate floors in great halls are more commonly C16. B Coward
The Stanleys 1385-1672 Chetham Society 1983; photographs of Dutton
Hall (since demolished) The Duttons of Dutton, 1901 Cheshire Record
Office L1462; G Ormerod History of Cheshire vols 1 and 2, 2nd Edition;
William Webb's itinerary of Cheshire 1622-3 published in King's
Vale Royal of England 1656 refers to Sutton hall as "an antient manour
house". C.f. moulded posts of great hall of Adlington Hall, Cheshire,
finished 1505.

Listing NGR: SJ5448679081

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Sutton Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q15979541

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, Supplement 2014
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2