Top Lodge To Former Aston Hall (Known As The Monkey Lodge)

Top Lodge to the former Aston Hall, known as The Monkey Lodge, is a gate lodge that is believed to date from the 1790s and is attributed to Samuel Wyatt, although it appears to be from the early 19th century. The building features lined stucco on a plinth made of large ashlar sandstone blocks and has a graded grey slate roof with lead rolls along the ridges and hips. It is a single storey structure that is symmetrical to the drive leading to the former Aston Hall on the right.

The lodge has a projecting canted porch with two antae, an entablature, and two pilasters. The door consists of one lower panel and a 14-pane margined glazed upper panel. There are recessed sashes in plain round-arched openings on each oblique face of the porch, with six panes in the lower sash and eight in the upper sash. Each wing also has a similar sash, but these openings have an architrave without imposts. All sashes are equipped with projecting stone cills. The frieze features roses in relief between scroll-shaped brackets that support the cornice. There are two corniced chimneys, each with two posts, and small extensions at the rear. The interior has not been inspected.

Samuel Wyatt was involved with the estate around the time that Humphry Repton replanned the park in 1793, as noted in the Aston Papers at Aston Lodge.