Pell Wall

Details

SUTTON UPON TERN C.P. NEWPORT ROAD (west SJ 63 SE side) 3/119 Pell Wall 7.11.62 and 20.8.71 GV II*

Small country house, now derelict. 1822-8 by Sir John Soane for his friend Purney Sillitoe. Altered and enlarged c.1861 for Martin Harcourt Griffin and further altered and enlarged c.1901. Grey sandstone ashlar with some additions in rendered brick. Hipped slate roof. Square villa, extended to east and south-east in the same style. 2 storeys and attic over basement. North-east (entrance) front: rusticated basement, plinth, pilaster strips with incised ornament, incised band at ground-floor impost level, moulded cill string, and moulded cornice and frieze with incised Greek key ornament. Parapet with balustrading to centre, segmental panels over end bays, and dies with incised ornament and pendentive-dome shaped finials. Central C19 flat- roofed dormer. 3 bays; glazing bar sashes with panelled cills; ground floor sashes set in round-arched recessed panels with incised ornament. Central entrance altered c.1901. Three steps up to doorway (half-glazed doors stored inside at time of survey - May 1986) with moulded architrave, flanking guilloche ornamented pilaster strips, frieze and cornice on scrolled brackets, round- arched tympanum with carved ornament and central roundel with wrought-iron lamp, and recessed rusticated outer arch. Ionic porch with paired columns on pedestals, entablature breaking forward over columns and with paterae to frieze, and balustraded parapet. North-west front: 1:3:1 bays. Details similar to entrance front except for central full-height bow with fluted band between floors. 3 Dormers. South-west (garden) front: 5 bays. Astylar. Incised fret ornament between floors. Parapet with segmental panels to centre 3 bays. 3 dormers. South-east range: mid-C19. Two storeys. 4:1:4 bays. Incised fret ornament between floors. Central break with pair of half-glazed doors in round-arched surround with blind tympanum and incised ornament. First-floor panel of incised ornament above and stack consisting of 2 square shafts with incised ornament flanking small attic window, moulded cornice and dome-shaped caps. 3-bay left-hand return and 2-bay right-hand return, both with stacks consisting of 2 square shafts with incised ornament flanking small attic window. Service block to south-east: 2 storeys. South-west front of 1:2:1:2:3 bays with incised Soanian ornament. North-west front forms the side of the entrance court. Interior: mainly remodelled c.1861 but still retaining some of Soane's work. Barrel-vaulted entrance hall with Ionic pilasters and panelled ribs. Small dining room on ground-floor to right with Soanian splayed cross-vault ceiling. Formerly top-lit central hall with gallery on 4 sides supported on Ionic columns. Curious staircase contrived in bow of Soane's drawing room consisting of 2 pairs of separate curved flights rising behind a mirror (now removed) set above a fireplace. The lower flights are vaulted. Rich plasterwork to walls including pilasters, cornices and first-floor pedimented doorcases. Ground floor of south-west wing contains suite of 2 sumptuously ornamented reception rooms flanking central lobby. Two pairs of large 4-panelled doors with scrolled brackets supporting cornice above. Each room with plaster panels, enriched cornice and coving to panelled plaster ceiling. 4-panelled doors with doorcases consisting of enriched moulded architrave, fluted frieze and open triangular pediment. Fireplaces removed. The south-east wing is said to have contained a swimming pool, in the range flanking the approach. The first-floor rooms of the house were not inspected. Pell Wall was Soane's last country house commission. He wrote: "In composing the plans of this villa my best energies have been exerted, intending that, when it was completed my professional labours should cease." Sillitoe was prepared to spend £10,000 on it. The builder was John Carline of Shrewsbury. Correspondence and drawings concerning the house are preserved in the Soane Museum. Since the inspection from which this description was made there has been a fire at Pell Wall. Some features mentioned here might not now exist. B.O.E. Staffordshire, pp. 219-20; Architectural Monographs, John Soane, London and New York, p. 101 (ill) and p. 107; Marcus Binney, Our Vanishing Heritage, London, pp.31-7; Tithe map of Drayton-in-Hale Parish (1838), Shropshire Records Office, 2885/4-5.

Listing NGR: SJ6798133191

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

260276

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Architectural Monographs John Soane, (), 101, 107
Binney, M, Our Vanishing Heritage, (), 31-7
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire, (1974), 219-20

End of official list entry

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