Witanhurst

Witanhurst is a substantial detached house constructed between 1913 and 1920 by George Hubbard for Sir Arthur Crosfield. It incorporates elements of Parkfield, an early 18th century house that was enlarged in 1881 by Allen William Block and in 1894 by Walter Scrimgeour. The house was restored in 1946. It is a building of group value.

The house has a roughly L-shaped plan and is built in a William and Mary style. The exterior is red brick with stone dressings and tiled roofs with dormers and tall brick chimney stacks. The north-east front (main facade) is three storeys and attics, with ten windows in the main block and a two-storey, eight-window return on the right. The ground floor of the main block features channelled stone and quoin strips, with a central entrance set within a Doric stone doorcase. First-floor windows are segmental-arched sashes with lugged architraves, while second-floor sashes include stone keystones and cast-iron balconies. A modillion eaves cornice runs along the top. The right-hand block is red brick with a stone band at first floor level, recessed sashes with keystones, and a modillion eaves cornice. A red brick section on the left is part of the original early 18th century Parkfield house.

The south-east return incorporates earlier fabric with a hipped tiled roof and a wooden modillion eaves cornice. Original flat-topped dormers have been replaced with hipped dormers. The south-west garden front features an Ionic loggia with a modillion cornice and balustrade. The central section has four windows, while projecting end bays feature Venetian windows, a modillion pediment, and an architraved oeil-de-boeuf (circular window) in the tympanum.

The interior was decorated and furnished in 1914 by White Allom and Co, with Percy Macquoid acting as consultant and designer for key rooms including the Music Room, Drawing Room, Study, Hall, staircase, and most of the bedrooms, all in an opulent, classically detailed style. Other richly decorated rooms include the Dining Room, Chinese Room, Billiard Room, and the Gallery. The house contains 65 rooms.

Sir Arthur Crosfield, the original owner, was Chairman of the soap manufacturers Joseph Crosfield and Sons and was formerly the MP for Warrington.