Remains of Trentham Hall: orangery, sculpture gallery and clock tower

Remains of Trentham Hall: orangery, sculpture gallery and clock tower

These buildings were designed in the Italianate style by Sir Charles Barry and built between 1838 and 1849. They comprise an orangery, sculpture gallery, and clock tower, with four bays of Barry's stable block and service quarters attached to the north of the sculpture gallery.

The structures are built of brick rendered with stucco architectural detailing, except for the upper stage of the clock tower which is of stone. They have clay pantile roofs, timber-framed sash windows, and chimneys with bracketed cornices.

The plan is L-shaped, with the orangery forming the south range running west to east, and the sculpture gallery forming the east range running north to south. A series of single-storey buildings are attached to the east elevation of the sculpture gallery, while the clock tower stands on the west elevation with the entrance to the dairy at its base.

The south elevation of the two-storey orangery features a rusticated basement and comprises a twelve-bay Classical arcade of moulded round-arched openings with scrolled keystones. These are framed by a colonnade of three-quarter Ionic columns supporting the entablature above, with pairs of Ionic pilasters at the end bays. Between the columns are two-panel sections of iron railings with a crossed arrow motif to each panel. The entablature is surmounted by a balustrade with pedestals at intervals. Set back from the balustrade is the second storey with square sash windows divided by rusticated piers rising above the roofline. The easternmost bay projects forward and forms a two-storey tower. Its first floor comprises a two-bay arcade of coupled Corinthian columns above a blind stone balustrade, flanked by widely spaced pairs of pilasters with elongated scrolled capitals supporting the entablature. The parapet walls above have pairs of pedestals to the corners with acorn finials and sections of balustrade. The east elevation of the tower is curved.

The north elevation of the orangery is plainer, featuring a five-bay colonnade with Doric piers beneath a lean-to roof. Ground floor windows have cambered heads, while the first floor has small square sash windows above the cill band. At the west end is a two-storey rusticated porte-cochère with a balustrade.

The west elevation of the sculpture gallery continues the Doric colonnade from the orangery, with a flat roof forming a first-floor balcony with parapet wall. Ground floor windows have cambered heads and first-floor windows are divided by piers, a treatment repeated on the east elevation. At the centre of the west elevation stands the clock tower. Its ground floor comprises a round-arched entrance flanked by banded three-quarter Tuscan columns set in front of banded Tuscan pilasters. Above the entablature, on either side of an inscription panel bearing the Latin inscription 'Lac non defit' (Milk does not fail), are pedestals with ball finials. The niche above contains a stone copy of a late 16th-century bronze by the sculptor Hubert le Sueur, depicting Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Leveson, a descendant of the Dukes of Sutherland and a naval commander during the reign of Elizabeth I. Above the niche is a semi-circular pediment supported on console brackets. The upper stage of the tower changes from stuccoed brick to stone, with a carved triangular pediment above the clock and a campanile with ball finial above.

At the north end of the sculpture gallery is a one-bay, two-storey gabled wing. To its right are four bays of the two-storey former stable block and service quarters with shouldered and eared architrave to the square casement windows.

The arcade to the orangery has a mosaic floor, though the interior was not fully inspected in 2018.