Carlton Towers

Carlton Towers is a country house with roots in the early 17th century that has been substantially developed and remodelled over more than 250 years, culminating in a major Victorian transformation.

The earliest part dates to the early 17th century and includes a dated architrave of 1614, probably by John Smythson. An 18th-century wing was added around 1740 for Nicholas Stapleton and further extended around 1770 by Thomas Atkinson. The house was substantially encased and incorporated into a new structure built between 1873 and 1875 by Edward Welby Pugin, with interiors created between 1875 and 1890 by J F Bentley for Lord Beaumont.

The building is constructed of pinkish-orange brick with channelled cement render and ashlar dressings, with a concealed roof. It is approximately L-shaped in plan and combines Palladian, Neo-Classical and Gothic Revival architectural styles.

The main range features a three-storey, three-bay central break-forward section with two-storey, five-bay wings and a central clock tower. The west range rises three storeys with five bays, a three-storey tower and staircase tower, and an octagonal turret. The building has a plinth throughout. The entrance is positioned in the angle between the front and west range, accessed by a curving flight of steps with end piers mounted by Talbots holding banners depicting the Stapleton lion and the lion of Brienne. Double doors feature a Tudor-arched surround rising to a pinnacle, ornamented with foliage and a coat of arms, with a datestone of 1875 above. Flanking pilasters have pinnacles and lancets containing stained glass.

The fenestration throughout comprises mainly two- and three-light ovolo-moulded mullion and transom windows within moulded architraves and with continuous sill bands. Windows on the first floor of the main range are three-light mullion and transom windows with Perpendicular tracery to their heads, recessed within a Tudor-arched arcade. The west range features bands with heraldic roundels between floors. Battlements project on ornamental rainwater-heads, and three raised coats of arms sit upon the embattled parapet of the main range. The clock tower has foliate columns to its angles and fish-scale tiles surmounted by Talbots at the angles, inscribed with the family motto MIEUX SERA. Stacks are concealed within battlemented towers. On the west façade of the west range is a re-used Jacobean ashlar architrave with a round-arched opening with keystone between pairs of fluted pilasters with frieze and moulded cornice, surmounted by a coat of arms in an ornamental surround and dated 1614. The staircase tower to the rear has a two-storey, five-light ovolo-moulded mullion and transom oriel window with quatrefoil lights above.

The interior preserves significant rooms from different periods. Rooms dating to around 1740 include the harp room with rococo plasterwork ceiling and the dining room with moulded cornices, an arcade of fluted Corinthian columns, six-panel doors with moulded surrounds, pulvinated friezes and cornices, and marble chimney-pieces supported by caryatids. Rooms from around 1770 include the drawing room with moulded cornice, panelled doors and a Neo-Classical marble fireplace, and the library with a Neo-Classical plaster ceiling and marble chimney-piece.

The interior created by J F Bentley forms one of the most ambitious suites of Victorian rooms in England. The outer and inner halls feature stencilled ceilings, an imperial oak staircase and minstrels gallery with balustrading and heraldic finials. The Venetian drawing room has a dado painted with figures from the Merchant of Venice and a chimney-piece painted with heraldic panels, Flora and the Four Seasons, designed by J H J Westlake, with plasterwork stamped and gilded to resemble leather. The card room features stencilled decoration to walls and ceiling. The picture gallery has panelling to dado and ceiling with a fireplace featuring tiles by William de Morgan. The basement chapel contains an altar-piece incorporating 15th-century Flemish carved wood panels depicting the beheading of St John the Baptist. An ante-room contains re-used oak panelling with Renaissance motifs. Other rooms contain similar stained ceilings, panelled doors, fireplaces and associated fittings and furniture designed by Bentley. Late 19th-century carving was executed by J Erskine Knox. Stained glass is by Lavers, Barrand and Westlake. Fenders and grates are by Longden and Co.