Carlton Hall

Carlton Hall is a country house built in 1765, located at Carlton-on-Trent on Church Lane. It is constructed of brick, colourwashed, with hipped and gabled slate roofs. The house is attributed to John Johnson, though it may have been designed by Joseph Pocklington for himself.

The building stands three storeys high and displays a symmetrical composition across nine main bays plus three additional bays. It features a stone plinth, first and second floor bands, cogged and dentillated eaves, pedimented gables, and a coped parapet. The roof is punctuated by three side wall stacks, three gable stacks, and two ridge stacks.

The main east front is dominated by a recessed central bay flanked by single full-height canted bay windows. A central Doric porch with four columns stands at the entry point; its frieze is inscribed with the date '1765', and it has a plain entablature and coping. The porch door is double panelled and flanked by three plain sashes. The flanking three-bay wings each have projecting pedimented central bays. The left wing contains a plain sash, whilst the right wing has an off-centre door flanked by two plain sashes to the left and a single glazing bar sash to the right. Above, a central Venetian window with margin lights is flanked by three plain sashes. Beyond this are round-headed casements: to the left flanked by single casements, and to the right flanked by two casements on the left and one on the right. The service wing to the right features sill and impost bands with dentillated eaves and a pedimented gable. A three-bay blind arcade contains three glazing bar sashes, with two more similar sashes above. Single-storey outbuildings adjoin; these contain a glazing bar sash, a door with segmental head, a casement, and two round-headed casements.

A curved brick boundary wall with ashlar coping adjoins the property, featuring a pair of square piers with pyramidal ashlar caps and a pair of diagonally boarded gates. The south end has a 19th-century canted ashlar bay window with coped parapet, containing a central French window flanked by single casements.

The symmetrical west front has a projecting pedimented central bay with parapet, flanked by single pedimented wings with their own projecting pedimented central bays. A pedimented Doric porch with double glazed door stands centrally, flanked by two full-height mullioned and transomed casements with shutters. Beyond are three full-height glazing bar sashes with shutters. Above these are five mullioned and transomed casements flanked by three mullioned casements, and above again are five smaller mullioned and transomed casements. The pediment contains a central round window flanked by blank panels in the parapet. To the left is a two-storey, six-bay service wing with sill and first floor bands and dentillated eaves. This wing has two blank panels and a door, beyond which are three half-round windows in recessed panels. Above are three blank panels and two large glazing bar sashes inserted into former blank panels.

The interior contains a central entrance hall with cantilevered stone stairs ascending around a rectangular well. The stairs feature Crinoline balusters and a ramped handrail with stone landings.

The main drawing room to the south displays painted and gilt 18th-century plasterwork of considerable quality. Bordered and swagged panels topped with urns decorate all walls, with a deep frieze and cornice. The ceiling is panelled with a foliate central boss, panel borders, and a cove adorned with cartouches and figures. The east wall contains a central panel flanked by single carved, painted and gilt doorcases with friezes, each containing panelled doors. The south wall holds a central marble fireplace with Atlantes carrying a large swag, a frieze with wreathed cartouche, a moulded shelf, and a plaster overmantel with vine decoration and swagged flanking panels. The west wall features mirrors in panels and two windows with moulded papier mâché pelmets.

The library contains full-height fitted timber bookcases in Classical style, incorporating pedimented doorcases. The east wall holds an early 19th-century marble fireplace flanked by figures, with a frieze of cherubs, wreathed brackets, an overmantel mirror, and single pedimented doorcases with curved brackets on either side. The room has a Classical style cornice.

Other principal rooms have moulded cornices. The oak room features a panelled frieze painted with 19th-century hunting scenes, two Classical style marble fireplaces, a carved wood fireplace with swagged frieze, five plain and panelled stone fireplaces, and moulded papier mâché pelmets. Two fitted cupboards with half-glazed doors are present, along with 18th-century doors and fittings. A minor staircase has a winder and landing with square newels, moulded handrail, and turned and stick balusters. The service wing contains two fitted cupboards, one with a projecting glazed central section.

A 19th-century ashlar terrace wall adjoins the house. It has a brick plinth, half-round band, and chamfered coping. The wall has curved ends and a central section with chamfered bases supporting twelve urns of various types and a 19th-century bird bath.