Ecton Hall

Ecton Hall is a country house with origins in the 16th century, but largely rebuilt around 1756 for Ambrose Isted, probably by Sanderson Miller, and extended in 1889 for the Sotheby family. The house is constructed of lias ashlar with a slate roof laid in diminishing courses. Originally designed in a Gothick style with a shallow U-shape plan, it is two storeys with an attic.

The garden front, dating from 1756, has nine windows. A central canted porch features an ogee-headed opening flanked by similar blank openings; the interior of the porch has a rib vault. The central three bays have sash windows with glazing bars, each with a label above. The flanking two bays project forward with paired sash windows under a combined label. The exterior bays to the left and right have a two-storey stone bay window with sashes containing some Gothic-style glazing bars. Armorial panels are set between the windows, topped by a castellated parapet. Curved gables above each bay contain two-light stone mullioned attic windows. The central seven bays have a castellated parapet. The roof is hipped and gabled, with stone stacks at the ridge. A 19th-century conservatory is attached to the right side of the house. The left-hand elevation has an arch-headed window, three sashes, and a central gable. The rear elevation, overlooking the garden, incorporates gables and a two-storey Tudor-style porch on the left, with a tall three-light window in the same style. Several stone mullioned windows have arched lights.

The interior was not inspected for the listing, but the entrance hall retains remnants of an 18th-century plaster ceiling and plaster decoration to arch-headed doorcases, originally depicting medallions of Homer, Julius Caesar, and Cicero. Some 17th-century panelling may also remain. The late 19th-century extensions to the left of the garden front and at the rear were demolished in the mid-20th century.