Oulton Hall

Oulton Hall is a large house, now derelict, located in Oulton Park, Rothwell. The core of the building dates to the late 18th century and was originally commissioned for John Blayds. Around 1822, Sir Robert Smirke made alterations for John Blayds’ successor, and further work followed in 1851-4 by Perkin and Backhouse of Leeds for his successor, John Blayds (who had reverted to the Calverley name). Subsequent additions and alterations were undertaken in 1875 by Perkin and Sons and in 1885 by Chorley and Cannon (Leeds) for Edmund Calverley.

The house is constructed of sandstone ashlar with a slate roof. It is two storeys in height, with a three-storey service wing. It originally comprised a five-bay range facing east, with single-storey bays added to each end around 1822, later raised to two storeys between 1851 and 1854. A stairhall was added to the rear of the main house during this period, along with a six-bay wing to its west. A service wing at the rear was raised to three storeys in 1875, and an entrance wing was added to the right (east) between 1885 and 1891.

The architectural style is classical and symmetrical. The north front, which serves as the main entrance, features three wide bays, with the central bay recessed between two rectangular two-storey bay windows. A tetrastyle Ionic porch with elaborated capitals featuring swags shelters a doorway with a moulded architrave and side windows set within a banded, rusticated surround. Large tripartite windows flank either side, recessed within segmental-headed arches, and at the first floor, three windows are centrally placed with a tripartite window on either side, each group beneath a cornice with a pediment over the central window (these windows are now without glazing). A cornice and panelled parapet tops the building. The roof is hipped with tall ridge chimneys, two of which flank the central bay.

The left return wall has a single-storey bay window similar to those on the front, extending to the rear where the east front of the main range is composed of one, five, and one bays, with a pedimented doorway and window above, both framed by architraves and cornices on consoles. Ground-floor windows have cornices, while those on the first floor have eared architraves, with the outer bays slightly projecting and featuring tripartite windows. The rear (garden) elevation, with six bays, is similarly designed, with two windows on each floor, centrally located, featuring cornices on consoles, those on the ground floor incorporating superimposed swagged panels. The west wing is less ornate.

The interior includes an entrance hall with a Venetian screen (lacking columns) leading to a full-height atrium in the centre of the main range, featuring a first-floor gallery. An open-well staircase is located on the west side of the linking section (stairs now missing). Elaborate moulded plasterwork is present throughout, although severely dilapidated. The 1851-4 work followed a fire that destroyed earlier work originally designed by Sydney Smirke, to whom the design was erroneously attributed by Pevsner.