Utkinton Hall

Utkinton Hall, now a farmhouse, incorporates a medieval core but largely dates to the 17th century, with significant alterations around 1700 and in the 18th century for Sir John Crewe. The building is constructed of ashlar red sandstone, with some English and Flemish bond orange brick facing, red sandstone dressings, a Welsh slate roof and brick chimneys. Originally a full courtyard plan, the early 17th-century layout was altered in the 18th century with the demolition of portions to create the present L-shaped plan with an additional line of gables and a parallel range to the east.

The main east front is two storeys and seven bays, with a basement and a hipped roof. It features a cyma-moulded plinth with rebated and cyma moulded two-light mullioned windows. A plain stone band runs along the first floor, and flush quoins are present. Windows are cross-glazed, some with original basket-arched brick heads, others with later flat gauged rubbrick heads (five of which are blocked). A studded oak board door, set in a moulded stone surround, is located in the second bay of this elevation; it may formerly have been part of a medieval screen passage. To the left of the main portion are four gables, constructed of varying materials and dating to different periods. Two are likely from the later 18th century, one is primarily stone with a timber truss, and the fourth, adjacent to the main portion, is similarly treated but incorporates thinner brick window heads and a simplified stone doorcase with a faintly channelled head.

The south front, two storeys and six bays, is a brick facade with stone dressings. A projecting two-bay section at the left resembles the east front, with an added moulded cornice and a stone-framed brick blocking course. The remainder of the south front was refaced with Flemish bond brickwork, rusticated quoins, and cross windows with original gauged rubbrick heads. The west front, also two storeys and six bays, is stone and has three-light mullioned and transomed windows and two doorways, one of which is blocked, with heavy lintels. A gable projecting from the north-facing angle incorporates a brick-nogged timber truss above a stone portion, with seven- and five-light mullioned and transomed windows.

The interior was not inspected for this listing, but previous records mention a stone-paved hall containing a central octagonal wooden column on a stone base, extending through the ground and first floors. Other noted features include wide fireplaces (one with a carved seat), Jacobean doors, doors with two bolection moulded panels, stopped bevelled spine beams with run-out stops, a staircase with shaped flat balusters on a close string, and a post with a moulded corbel.

The Done family, hereditary wardens of Delamere Forest, resided here, and the hall was once a grand building, including a chapel and an oval library. A twisted baluster staircase is now located at Tarporley Rectory, and armorial glass is held in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow.