Milton Manor Cottage And Milton Manor House

Milton Manor House is a Grade I listed manor house with attached kitchen and brewhouse range, located on Milton High Street. The main house dates from around 1670, built for Paul Calton Senior, with significant extensions and additions made around 1776 by Stephen Wright for Bryant Barrett.

The building is constructed of red brick with rendered quoins and pilasters. The centre block has a 20th-century plain-tile hipped roof, while the wings have slate hipped roofs. The complex comprises a basement and three storeys, with a five-window range to the centre and two-storey, three-bay wings to the left and right.

The centre block features four-pane windows to the basement. A flight of steps with wrought-iron balustrade leads to the ground floor, approaching a sash door with fanlight set within a wood Doric pilaster surround topped by an open pediment. Doric rendered pilasters separate the bays at ground floor level. The ground floor has 12-pane unhorned sash windows with flat brick arches, and a stone cornice runs between the ground and first floors. Composite giant-order pilasters, decorated with fleur-de-lys medallions at first floor level, separate the bays to the first and second floors. The first floor has 12-pane unhorned sashes with stone floating cornices. The second floor has 9-pane unhorned sashes with flat brick arches. A rendered dentil cornice runs to the eaves.

The wings have wider central bays with 12-pane unhorned sashes to the ground and first floors. The flanking bays feature round-headed recesses to the ground floors and round-headed niches to the first floors. Doric rendered pilasters separate the bays, with stone dentil cornices and plain parapets to the eaves. The rear elevation is identical to the front, except the wings have angled bays at the ends with sash windows to the angles and plain brick to the cardinal fronts.

The interior contains a cantilever wood open-well staircase from basement to attic at the rear of the main block. The Hall retains a richly carved 17th-century wood fireplace surround. The Drawing Room has a mid-17th-century plaster ceiling with compartments and oval panels decorated with oak and bay-leaf motifs in John Webb style, together with an overmantel from Gunnersbury Park. The Dining Room was redecorated for Bryant Barrett, featuring fielded panelling and two serving alcoves. Chinese wallpaper adorns the Chinese bedroom and dressing room on the first floor of the main block.

The south wing contains a Strawberry Hill Gothic library and a Roman Catholic chapel. The library features ogee-headed bookcases and fireplace surround. The chapel is decorated with gothick strapwork to the walls and a coved ceiling with pendant bosses. It contains 14th-century English stained glass from Steventon Church and 17th- and 18th-century Flemish stained glass.

The attached kitchen and brewhouse range is constructed of red brick with an old plain-tile hipped roof and brick ridge stacks to the left and right of the centre. It comprises a single storey and attic in a nine-bay range with a 1:7:1 arrangement. A seven-bay arcade to the centre features doors and casements to the rear. The end bays have thermal windows set within round-arched recesses. Six 20th-century flat-roofed dormers have been added. The interior is noted as retaining many original features, though it was not inspected in detail.

The house was built by the Calton family. William III is reputed to have stayed at Milton on 11 December 1688 while his troops were quartered at Abingdon. Tsar Peter the Great is also said to have stayed there to discuss naval matters with Admiral Benbow. Bryant Barrett purchased the house on 5 October 1764 for £10,000 and initiated a programme of extension and improvements.