Catton Hall

Catton Hall is a country house dating from around 1780, with later alterations and additions. The exterior is rendered and colourwashed, with slate roofs. The house is arranged in a 'U' shape, with a one-and-a-half-storey 19th-century library wing filling the interior of the U. This wing has been extended further with a 19th-century range to the west. The south front features two semi-circular bays. A 19th-century Palladian-style orangery, originally topped with a cupola, extends south from the western corner; a 20th-century loggia connects it to the main house. The earlier core facade to the south has a symmetrical a.b.c.b.a. arrangement, with three windows in each bay, featuring late 19th-century cast iron balconies. A shallow projecting central section contains three windows. The later west wing has two windows. Sash windows are fitted with moulded stucco architraves.

The orangery is constructed of cast iron and glass, set upon a brick and stone plinth, with brick walls to the north and west. It has a cruciform plan with pedimented gables. The east section is divided into three bays by slender columns with capitals, and features glazing bars in the semi-circular heads. The north elevation of the library wing has a projecting central section of three storeys with sash windows, flanked by sections which have glazed doors and an oculus above. Stucco pilasters are present at the angles. A heavy plain cornice and parapet top the wing. The north projecting wings also contain sash windows; those on the west have glazing bars.

The roofs are hipped, with a timber cornice and paired brackets. There are eight stucco chimney stacks, each with a wide cornice and varying numbers of gault clay pots. A western lean-to, hipped gault brick blocks and single storey additions are not considered of special interest. A recent single-storey day room extension has been added to the east. Inside, the hall retains a good 18th-century staircase, as well as decorated panelling, a frieze, and a segmental archway supported on fluted Ionic columns. Ground floor rooms are decorated with plaster cornices. Notable features include a good 18th-century fire surround in the former library, and a carved timber fire surround in the former dining room. Edwardian detail is found on the first-floor landing. The park was landscaped by Humphry Repton in 1788, which is said to have been his first commissioned work.