Weston Hall And Service Wings To North And East

Weston Hall and Service Wings to North and East

A country house of the 1670s, attributed to Lady Wilbraham, with alterations and additions throughout the 19th century. The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and a lead roof concealed behind a parapet. Large blind arcaded centre stacks are a prominent feature.

The plan is U-shaped, following the 17th-century arrangement and originally open to the north, though this court has since been filled in by later additions.

The south front dates from 1671 and was formerly the entrance front. It rises three storeys over cellars, with windows arranged in a symmetrical pattern of 2-3-1-3-2 bays of glazing bar sashes. A central entrance is set within a moulded plinth, with stone bands at first and second floor levels. Projecting bays at the ends and centre are topped with quoins and rise to open segmental pediments on cyma recta cornices enriched with acanthus work. The tympana contain oeil-de-boeuf windows. The centre bay is entirely of stone, taken flush to the cornice and running between balustraded parapets. Window surrounds vary in design but maintain symmetry, featuring moulded frames with shouldered surrounds, keystones, or cornices. French casement doors are enriched with corbelled consoles that break the angled cornice.

The east front was re-fronted as the entrance in the mid-19th century but retains much 17th-century work. Three ranges of 3-3-3 bays with glazing bar sashes flank a central entrance. Quoins accent the angles and centre projection, which rises to a pediment with a stone cartouche in its tympanum. Swan-necked stone bands at first and second floor levels match those on other fronts, with a balustraded parapet running to the pediment. A hexastyle porte-cochère in Tuscan columns spans the width of the centre projection, with a tetrastyle central break in its frieze and cornice above a balustraded parapet. Window surrounds follow the pattern of the south front, while the outer windows of the centre projection on the ground and first floors have elliptical arch surrounds. The upper window of the centre bay features a rusticated ashlar apron. A glazed double door with a moulded surround forms the entrance.

The west front displays 1-1-1-3-1-1-1 bays of glazing bar sashes. A three-sided projecting stone centre bay and centre side bays punctuate the elevation; the former likely dates from the mid-19th century, the latter more probably to the 17th century. Quoins accent the angles and projections, with stone bands at first and second floor levels and a blocking course parapet, balustraded over the projections. Window surrounds are similar to those on the east front.

The north front features pediments as on the south front, with 19th-century service wings extending northward. A stone-faced wing of two storeys and 7-2 bays runs to the south of the entrance, extending eastward with a pedimented projection at its end and a balustraded parapet. This range contains four-pane sashes, three with pedimented heads. A parallel 18th-century range visible on the south side displays brickwork and a steeply pitched roof.

The interior contains several significant rooms. The entrance hall features a Roman Doric tetrastyle colonnade to the right of the entrance, with pilastered surrounds framing arched openings to the stair hall. A 20th-century frieze displays egg and dart, acanthus and anthemion ornament. The stair hall has a chequer-pattern marble floor and Ionic pilasters flanking the entrance hall openings and inner arches, with corniced door surrounds. A coffered lower ceiling spans the space. A 19th-century marble stair runs against the entrance axis, with an open string featuring scrolled details beneath the treads and three curtail steps. The balustrade employs a wrought-iron rinceau pattern with occasional lyre uprights, continuing as a balustrade to the landing. An Ionic pilastered tripartite window sits above the stairs, with an Ionic colonnade to the landing.

The Tapestry Room features a mid-19th-century cornice mixing Gothic and classical motifs, combining trefoil and anthemion designs. A mid-19th-century marble fireplace is flanked by ram-headed terms at its angles. The inner surround displays entwined flowers and egg and dart ornament, with chimeras to the frieze and cornice, quadranted over the terms.

The drawing room extends four bays along the entrance axis of the 17th-century house. A mid-19th-century dentilled and modillioned cornice with patera and egg and dart work suggests an apse at the east end, supported by Ionic pilasters. A marble fireplace with a pilastered surround and rinceau frieze leads to the cornice.

The library measures three bays with painted and dragged walls imitating wood. Corinthian colonnades to the east and west create entrance passages with a frieze and modillioned cornice. A marble fireplace features a reeded surround with fleurons at the angles. Built-in bookcases with key friezes run along the walls.

The dining hall was remodelled in the 19th century from two original floors. The ceiling spans 1-3-1 bays projecting to the centre, with pedimented door heads. The room retains a re-used dado and 20th-century plasterwork. A mid-19th-century marble fireplace similar to that in the Tapestry Room but of larger scale features lion terms, lyre and dragon friezes. The cornice and architectonic overmantel employ coloured marbles with consoles supporting a pilastered centre panel.

The outer and inner salons, formerly the billiard and smoking rooms, date from the late 19th century. An arched screen separates them. The outer salon features a coved ceiling with glazed centre panels and a dentilled cornice. A combined fireplace and pedimented mirror overmantel in light relief displays fasci and sphinx heads within a keyed, blind arched surround. Lyre panels over doorways to the inner salon employ Adamesque-style plasterwork with arched recesses.

A 19th-century breakfast room and an apsidal music room adjoin to the northeast of the entrance to the service wing. Extensive cellars beneath the main house feature brick vaulting and some sandstone walling. A wine room is complete with two layers of arched brick bins.