Walton House

Walton House is a country house now partly surrounded by later buildings. It dates from the late 18th and late 19th centuries. The architect of the original building may have been George Byfield, who also designed Webber House, with which the detailing compares. The house is constructed in Flemish bond brickwork with some ashlar dressings, slate roofs, and brick stacks.

The plan is a compact symmetrical double-depth block with a central staircase hall to the rear and two chimney breasts to each gable wall. A lower range was added to the south side in the late 19th century, together with a conservatory. The entrance was originally on the east side but is now on the west, accessed through the added range.

The east front is three storeys with a basement. It is fenestrated 1:3:1 with the middle three bays brought forward slightly and a one-bay extension to the left. The principal building has 6-pane sashes at the second floor and 12-pane sashes at the first and ground floors. The first bay contains doors to a steel escape stair at the first and second floors, and there are replacement sashes at first and ground floor level. All windows have a central keystone and stone cills. The central bay features a sunk panel with an arched top containing a pair of part-glazed French doors under a 6-pane transom light in a stone moulded pediment with eared architrave. A stone modillion cornice returns across the full width of both gable walls and to the central pediment over the middle bays. The later wing to the left has a two-storey canted bay with plain sashes under a moulded stone pediment. The return to the left is plain with five sashes at first floor.

The conservatory has an asbestos-cement roof with a five-light round bay with conical roof against a coped gable to the south. To the east it is in three bays with paired lights, the central one with doors. All casements have a transom with paired small lights above. The brick piers at east and south sides have moulded capitals with terracotta rosettes.

The north gable wall of the main block is plain with some blocked windows. The south gable has four plain sashes at second floor. The large stacks have stone moulded cappings, and the curved gable ends continue between the stacks as a straight parapet concealing the central valley roof.

The west front is three storeys with a basement and three bays, all with segmental brick heads and stone cills. The second floor has 9-pane sashes. There are large tripartite sashes at first and second floors, those to the right having a central arched sash with margin-panes. A tall arched window with geometrical bar infill lights the central stair above a small 6-pane light. A stair descends to the basement on the left. The added bay to the right has a raised parapet with central sunk stone panel bearing a shield, above a 12-pane sash in a raised brick surround with stone cornice-mould and pediment. A panelled door with radial fanlight has a stone entablature and is flanked by small single lights. Behind the parapet the roof returns with a hipped end.

The interior is mainly from the late 19th century, featuring fine contemporary joinery detailing. The grand staircase has square newels with finials, a moulded and wreathed handrail, an open string, and panelled soffits. A window contains coloured glass including a coat of arms with the motto "Vouloir c'est pouvoir". A secondary stair at the upper level has splat balusters. The house contains many six-panel doors, some with moulded surrounds, decorative plastered ceilings, and a full-width set of sliding panelled doors in the front suite. A front room has a white marble fireplace. The conservatory, approached through a pair of doors under a transom light, is in three bays with decorative king-post trusses and a ceramic tile floor.

Although adapted in recent years to institutional use, much of the original domestic fabric and decoration remains. The house was once the home of the Cartland family. A Walton Spa Pumproom was built on this site in 1835 and demolished in 1961, which may account for the large house. A Nicholas Smithsend lived in Walton House in 1820.