Arley Hall

Arley Hall is a house built between 1835 and 1845, designed by George Latham of Nantwich. It is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with blue headers arranged in diaper patterns, with Horton stone dressings and a slate roof. The building has two storeys with cellars and an attic, and includes a mezzanine floor on the west side.

The south front presents a symmetrical seven-bay façade in an A.B.B.C.B.B.A. rhythm. A stone plinth, quoins, window surrounds and parapet run across the façade. Slightly projecting wings occupy either side, each with stone quoins and shaped gables decorated with stone carving. The main features are canted two-storey bays of six lights with five mullions to both floors; the ground floor windows have two transoms while the first floor has one. Pierced stone parapets crown both bays. The central porch is equipped with two pairs of debased Ionic columns with Jacobean diamond lozenges to the lower shafts and strapwork to the pedestals. The central arch displays coats of arms in its spandrels. Originally a square tower with a semi-circular oriel window and octagonal lantern rose above this porch, but this was demolished in 1968 and replaced by a three-light window with two mullions and one transom in a stone surround. To either side are two three-light windows with two transoms and two mullions, with hood moulds over that join at the level of the upper transom. The first floor windows match the design of the central replacement. Two groups of four moulded brick Tudor chimneys stand behind the ridge to left and right.

The west front displays two floors with a mezzanine. A doorway at the centre is imposed upon the central two lights of a four-light mullioned and transomed window. To its left is a two-light mullioned and transomed window with two two-light mullioned windows at mezzanine level above. Two further two-light mullioned windows stand above these. To the right is a three-flue chimney stack, then blank ground and mezzanine floors. A stone oriel to the first floor contains three mullioned and transomed lights, supported on consoles with two-light mullioned and transomed windows to either side. Strapwork decoration adorns the lower part of the oriel, and a pierced stone parapet sits above it.

The interior contains several significant rooms. The Front Hall features oak panelling in a 17th-century style with plaster strapwork to the ceiling. The Library contains bookcases and a chimney-piece in loose Jacobean style, with Ionic pillars featuring lozenges to the lower shafts and strapwork to pedestals, topped by pairs of male and female terms in the overmantel. These fittings were supplied by H Wood and Company of Covent Garden in 1843. The ceiling is elaborately worked in Jacobean style with pendants. Canted bays contain stained glass to the upper lights by M Lusson of Paris, dated 1852. The Gallery has oak panelling to its lower walls and a panelled, moulded ceiling with strapwork and pendants. Its canted bay features stained glass to the upper lights also by M Lusson, dated 1863. A fireplace with two Doric columns, panelled at their bases, is topped by an overmantel with a central carved panel depicting St George slaying the dragon, flanked by personifications of Hope and Patience in niches. Beneath these figures are the inscriptions 'HOPE CONFIDENTLY', 'DO VALIANTLY' and 'WAIT PATIENTLY'. The Drawing Room has a coved ceiling with delicate Jacobean strapwork, arabesque decoration to the cornice frieze, and raised and fielded panelling to the lower walls in mid-19th-century French style. Nine-panel doors with matching mid-19th-century French doorcases open from this room. The Great Staircase is a half-turn design with landings, featuring plaster strapwork to the soffit, a deep moulded handrail and heavy oak balusters. A coved ceiling decorated with strapwork rises to a central octagonal lantern, itself decorated with plaster strapwork. The Ante-room contains an oak panelled barrel-vault with strapwork and pendants.

The estate has a long history. The first Arley Hall on this site was built by the Warburton family in 1469, and the estate has remained in the family's hands since then. In 1968 the house underwent considerable reduction: the Banqueting Hall, much of the east front and the service court were demolished, leaving the Chapel isolated. The service court originally abutted the west front; the present left-hand portion of that front is a rendering of an originally external wall with old mullioned windows reset into it.