Cronkhill

House. Built in 1802 by John Nash, incorporating a smaller 17th and 18th century house. The main structure is constructed of stuccoed brick lined as ashlar with grey sandstone dressings and hipped slate roofs. The design exemplifies the Italianate style with a rectangular plan enlivened by a circular tower to the north-east and a square tower to the south-west. The building comprises two storeys with three-storey towers.

The central block rises from a plinth with deep eaves supported by paired brackets. It presents two bays to the front, with one bay returning to the left. The first floor features an arched window with the ground floor showing three 15-pane sash windows. A round-arched loggia of six by four bays spans the front elevation, supported on two steps with chamfered square piers, moulded dentil cornice, and balustraded parapet. Glazing bar sashes throughout, with round-arched examples on the first floor. Integral brick stacks rise from both towers.

The north-east circular tower displays three round-arched ground-floor windows to the front, with further round-arched windows on the first floor to both front and right elevations. A string course marks the second floor, embellished with oeil-de-boeuf windows at front and back, and a blind oeil-de-boeuf to the right. The tower culminates in a pyramidal roof with globe finial and weathervane.

The right-hand return front comprises two bays with a projecting ground floor displaying moulded dentil cornice and balustraded parapet. A recessed arched niche to the left contains a Roman amphora. To the right stands a depressed-arch porch featuring a groin vault springing from moulded imposts, with niches flanking a four-panel door (top panels glazed) complete with flush-panelled side-lights, moulded architrave and cornice, and a depressed-arched fanlight.

The south-west square tower displays a 15-pane sash to the ground floor, a round-arched glazing bar sash to the first floor, and an 8-pane sash to the second floor. Two round-arched sashes appear at the rear.

The service wing to the south integrates a 17th century timber-framed structure with an 18th century brick wing to the west and circa 1802 refacing to the east. The timber frame displays square panels (five from sole-plate to wall-plate) with short straight corner braces. The wing has a T-plan and comprises two storeys with a two-storey gable-lit attic. A central brick ridge stack and external brick end stack serve the wing. The east front presents five bays of round-arched glazing bar sashes. The rear wing's south front features a first-floor glazing bar sash flanked by two ground-floor segmental-headed glazing bar sashes (the right one partly blocked) with a segmental-headed six-panelled door between them.

Historical photographs reveal that painted imitation oeil-de-boeuf windows once decorated the top storey of the main tower, now painted over. The interior has not been inspected during the survey, but is known to be of considerable interest. Notably, despite the prominent towers, there are no circular rooms within except at the top.

Cronkhill was built for Francis Walford, Lord Berwick's estate agent at Attingham Park. Walford's monument stands in Atcham churchyard. Nash exhibited the design at the Royal Academy in 1802 as a "Villa in Shropshire". The house's historical significance lies in its status as the first Italianate villa in England and the prototype for extensive 19th century villa building. It also represents an important statement within the Picturesque movement, demonstrating the influence of Claude Lorraine and Poussin's paintings on contemporary architectural practice. A drawing probably by Nash, now housed in Sir John Soane's Museum, depicts the house without stacks and with a rebuilt service wing featuring a tower to the left.