Pell Wall

Pell Wall is a small country house, now derelict, situated on the Newport Road near Sutton upon Tern. Built between 1822 and 1828 by Sir John Soane for his friend Purney Sillitoe, it was his last country house commission. The house was subsequently altered and enlarged around 1861 for Martin Harcourt Griffin and further altered and enlarged around 1901. Soane wrote of the design: "In composing the plans of this villa my best energies have been exerted, intending that, when it was completed my professional labours should cease." The builder was John Carline of Shrewsbury, and Sillitoe was prepared to spend £10,000 on the project. Correspondence and drawings concerning the house are preserved in the Soane Museum.

The building is constructed of grey sandstone ashlar with some additions in rendered brick, and is roofed in slate with hipped ends. It comprises a square villa extended to the east and south-east in the same style, with two storeys and an attic over a basement.

The north-east (entrance) front displays rusticated basement, plinth, pilaster strips with incised ornament, and an incised band at ground-floor impost level. The elevation features a moulded cill string and moulded cornice and frieze with incised Greek key ornament. A parapet with balustrading to the centre is punctuated by segmental panels over the end bays and dies with incised ornament and pendentive-dome shaped finials. A central 19th-century flat-roofed dormer interrupts the roofline. The front comprises three bays; glazing bar sashes with panelled cills are set at the first floor, while ground-floor sashes are set in round-arched recessed panels with incised ornament. The central entrance was altered around 1901. Three steps lead up to the doorway, which features moulded architrave, flanking guilloche-ornamented pilaster strips, frieze and cornice on scrolled brackets, a round-arched tympanum with carved ornament and central roundel with wrought-iron lamp, and a recessed rusticated outer arch. An Ionic porch with paired columns on pedestals, entablature breaking forward over the columns with paterae to the frieze, and balustraded parapet frames the entrance.

The north-west front exhibits a 1:3:1 bay arrangement. Details are similar to the entrance front except for a central full-height bow with a fluted band between floors. Three dormers pierce the roofline.

The south-west (garden) front comprises five bays in an astylar design with incised fret ornament between floors. The parapet features segmental panels to the centre three bays. Three dormers are present.

The south-east range dates from the mid-19th century and comprises two storeys. It displays a 4:1:4 bay arrangement with incised fret ornament between floors. A central break contains a pair of half-glazed doors in a round-arched surround with blind tympanum and incised ornament. A first-floor panel of incised ornament is positioned above a stack consisting of two square shafts with incised ornament flanking a small attic window, surmounted by a moulded cornice and dome-shaped caps. A three-bay left-hand return and two-bay right-hand return, both featuring similar stacks, complete this range. A service block to the south-east comprises two storeys, with a south-west front displaying a 1:2:1:2:3 bay arrangement featuring incised Soanian ornament. The north-west front of the service block forms the side of the entrance court.

The interior was mainly remodelled around 1861 but still retains some of Soane's work. A barrel-vaulted entrance hall features Ionic pilasters and panelled ribs. A small dining room on the ground floor to the right has a Soanian splayed cross-vault ceiling. Originally there was a top-lit central hall with a gallery on four sides supported on Ionic columns. A curious staircase is contrived in the bow of Soane's drawing room, consisting of two pairs of separate curved flights rising behind a mirror (now removed) set above a fireplace. The lower flights are vaulted. Rich plasterwork adorns the walls, including pilasters, cornices and first-floor pedimented doorcases. The ground floor of the south-west wing contains a suite of two sumptuously ornamented reception rooms flanking a central lobby. Two pairs of large four-panelled doors with scrolled brackets support cornices above. Each room features plaster panels, enriched cornice and coving to panelled plaster ceilings. Four-panelled doors with doorcases consisting of enriched moulded architrave, fluted frieze and open triangular pediment are present. Fireplaces have been removed. The south-east wing is said to have contained a swimming pool within the range flanking the approach. The first-floor rooms were not inspected at the time of the survey in May 1986. A fire at Pell Wall has occurred since the inspection from which this description was made, and some features mentioned here may no longer exist.