Wooton Hall And Adjoining Screen Wall To Right

Wootton Hall and Adjoining Screen Wall

A small country house built in 1796 for John Uppleby, with later minor alterations. The main hall is constructed in red brick laid in Flemish bond with a Westmorland slate roof. The building follows a double-depth plan with a 2-room central entrance hall to the front and a side entrance to the right return. A wing and screen wall adjoin to the rear right.

The principal elevation is arranged as a 3-storey, 5-bay central block flanked by 2-storey canted bays to the left and right returns. Three central bays break forward, with the middle bay recessed beneath a full-height round arch. A plinth runs along the base, with a flight of 3 stone steps leading to a projecting ashlar Doric porch. The porch has fluted columns supporting a full entablature with triglyphs, guttae and a dentilled cornice. The recessed door has 6 panels (2 glazed over 2 fielded and 2 flush panels) set in an ashlar architrave with a rusticated surround. It is flanked by single narrow 8-pane side sashes, with unequal 15-pane sashes to the side bays and a blind dummy to the right canted bay.

The central bay features an ashlar band and moulded sill string course above the porch. A 3-course brick first-floor band runs across the side bays. On the first floor, the central recessed Venetian window with glazing bars sits beneath the round-arched panel, while 12-pane sashes flank the side bays. A 3-course second-floor band continues to the side bays as an eaves band with a brick modillion cornice to the outer canted bays. The second floor has a central Diocletian window with glazing bars and 6-pane sashes to the outer bays. All windows have slightly recessed wooden architraves, projecting stucco sills and rubbed brick flat arches (except those above the entrance, which have round arches). A raised brick eaves band and modillion cornice finish the facade, with a hipped roof and corniced axial stacks.

The right return features a side entrance in the angle to the right of the canted bay. A flight of 3 stone steps with a wrought-iron balustrade of alternate wavy and vertical bars and a single top rail leads to a pair of ashlar Doric columns with fluted necking. A 6-beaded-panel door (with the top 2 panels glazed) sits in a panelled reveal and architrave. A 20th-century sloping-roofed porch supported on cast-iron columns now encloses the original ashlar porch hood.

The left return's rear section has a ground-floor tripartite opening with a central 12-pane sash flanked by brick mullions and blind panels. The first floor has a similar arrangement with a blind central panel flanked by sashes. The second floor features a tripartite window with wooden mullions and glazing bars.

The rear elevation shows a central bay breaking forward with a ground-floor tripartite sash flanked by 12-pane sashes and a panelled door beneath a plain overlight. The central first floor has a full-length sash with a semicircular balcony featuring a balustrade of alternate wavy and vertical bars, flanked by 12-pane sashes. The second floor has a pair of central 6-pane sashes flanked by unequal 9-pane sashes, with a blind panel to the first bay.

A 2-storey wing to the rear occupies 3 by 2 bays. Its north front has a plinth and 3 steps to a central panelled door in a wooden architrave, flanked by a 12-pane sash to the right and a blind panel to the left. A 4-course brick first-floor band continues across, with a central 9-pane sash flanked by blind panels. A stepped eaves band and modillion cornice finish the front, with a hipped roof and tall axial stack. The south front, facing the courtyard, has a board door beneath a segmental arch with a 2-light sash to the left. The first floor has a tripartite sash, a 20th-century casement and a 9-pane sash, all with glazing bars and similar surrounds to the main block.

The adjoining screen wall extends south for 7 metres and turns south-east for approximately 25 metres. It features a segmental-arched doorway beside the wing and a similar opening with a board door to the south-east. The wall has ashlar coping, ramped up to a raised central section. Adjacent lean-to ranges and a house to the south-east are of no special interest.

Interior

The entrance hall contains a marble chimneypiece with a cast-iron duck's nest grate and a side cupboard with ornamental glazing. An elaborate dentilled and modillioned plaster cornice and a central moulded roundel decorate the ceiling.

The stairhall features a fine open-well-profile cantilevered stone staircase with a ramped and wreathed handrail and a wrought-iron balustrade of alternate intersecting scrolled panels and column balusters (those to the top stairwell enriched with rosettes). A clustered newel supports the handrail. The plaster cornice matches that of the entrance hall. A moulded band and circular panels with moulded surrounds ornament the first floor. A coved ceiling with a beaded cornice and a pierced dome bearing a frieze with festoon ornament completes the space.

The ground floor right room contains an inserted 18th-century white marble chimneypiece with fluted pilasters and carved panels in the frieze depicting cherubs. The plasterwork includes sections of fluted dado rail, a pair of arched alcoves with fluted pilasters, a reeded frieze and scalloped hoods with floral ornament. A floral frieze and cornice run around the walls, with a ceiling rose decorated with acanthus and vine leaves. A pair of fine 6-beaded-panel mahogany doors in architraves support enriched entablatures with moulded cornices.

The ground floor left room features a fine inserted Adam-style chimneypiece in white and sienna marble with enriched pilasters, aegricane capitals, carved panels in the frieze depicting urns and sphinxes, and a dentilled cornice. Moulded plaster friezes, cornices and a ceiling rose with foliate motifs ornament the space.

The dining room to the rear left has plaster panelling above a moulded dado rail, an arched alcove with a scalloped plaster fan and a moulded ceiling cornice. A marble chimneypiece completes the room.

The main first-floor rooms retain original chimneypieces and plasterwork. Panelled window shutters and 6-beaded-panel doors in architraves appear throughout the interior.

The inserted chimneypieces were brought by Lord Worsely from bomb-damaged buildings in London.