Welton Grange

Welton Grange is a house dating from circa 1741, built for the Wilkinson family. It is a group value building of considerable architectural and historic importance. The house is constructed of brown brick with ashlar dressings and has a slate roof. It is two storeys high and originally had three bays, with the central bay projecting slightly and topped by a low pediment. A plinth and rusticated quoins are visible on the exterior. The front door is centrally positioned, being glazed and panelled, set within a rusticated surround with a projecting keyblock and a floating pediment displaying a floral design. Flanked on either side are sash windows with glazing bars in raised surrounds. A first-floor band runs around the building. The centre bay of the first floor has a Venetian window with a moulded cornice and projecting keyblock, featuring a sash with radial glazing to the centre light, and nine-pane unequal sashes to the sides within raised surrounds. The eaves have raked cornices with a projecting blank panel to the pediment. Axial and end brick stacks and a hipped roof are also present. The interior retains remarkable integrity and is characterised by considerable richness and originality. The stairhall features a cantilevered cut-string staircase with moulded tread ends, three balusters per tread (the outer two turned, the inner twisted), and a heavy moulded handrail. A ramped and panelled dado is visible, alongside a scrolled string beneath an oculus with ornate floral glazing bars. The entablature is heavily moulded and enriched with scrolled friezes, central masks flanked by foliage, a modillion cornice with egg and dart and rosettes between the modillions. The ceiling has a central elliptical dome with a plaster eagle in high relief perched on a branch, and four corner medallions representing the seasons, linked by festoons with baskets of fruit. Good quality first-floor door cases with panelled reveals and soffits, and raised-and-fielded panelled doors are also present. The main ground floor door is within a pilastered doorcase with a pulvinated frieze and broken dentilled pediment. A left-hand room door has a scrolled pediment above it, with a garland of leaves visible over the head of the door. Numerous other features of similar quality are believed to exist within the house.