Orton Hall

Orton Hall is a large, mainly 1835 Jacobethan mansion designed by G H Smith of London, with a kitchen wing dating to the late 16th or early 17th century and a west wing added in 1861. The main 1835 house is constructed of dressed stone with freestone dressings. It is a three-storey rectangular block characterised by an embattled parapet, mullion and transom windows, and large chimney stacks with grouped, elaborate shafts topped with star caps. The west front has three bays of sash windows in plain architraves, with the right-hand bay slightly advanced and featuring an openwork stepped gable topped with a finial. A ground floor conservatory with an ornate arcade of four-centred moulded arches, carved spandrels, and a pierced parapet with shields and tall finials is also present; the conservatory windows contain stained glass, and the roof displays iron hammerbeams. The two-bay south side features two-storied square bays with pierced parapets. The east entrance front has a three-bay, two-bay, three-bay arrangement, with a recessed centre, stone mullion windows, transom windows, and moulded stringcourses. The 1861 west wing is two storeys and attic; its construction uses rock-faced masonry with bands of ashlar, a plain parapet, and a steeply pitched tiled roof. A large two-storey bay, featuring a decorative parapet and an oriel in the gable, projects from the south side, while the north side has an octagonal tower with openwork battlements and a large porch with a stepped gable. A two-storey kitchen wing, dating to the late 16th or early 17th century and incorporating 18th-century work, is located to the north. The lining room, in a Tudor style, incorporates much reused 16th and 17th century English and foreign woodwork. Heraldic stained glass by Willewent from 1831 is found on the stairs, and some 16th and 17th century reused stained glass has been inserted into the later windows. Historically, this was the home of the Gordon family, Marquesses of Huntly, Earls of Aboyne, and it is now used as a school.