Sutton Hall

Details

SUTTON C.P. ASTON LANE SJ 57 NW South West Side 2/136 Sutton Hall. 8/1/1970 GV I Hall, now farmhouse, late C15 or early C16, extended late C17 and early C19. Brown brick; roof replaced in cement tiles. 2 storeys plus attics. The earliest part, left, 2 storeys with gable to front, contains late medieval oak framed great halls of unusual type, cased in brown brick, Flemish bond to front, with 2 large lateral stone chimneys rebuilt in brick above eaves; late C17 right wing of 2 storeys plus attics has sandstone plinth, 2-course brick bands at 1st and attic floors, flush gable chimney and partly leaded cross-casement to stair; cross-wing at rear of great halls is partly Tudor and partly 1805 with 2 storey 2 window face to garden in Flemish bond brickwork with pale headers and recessed small-pane sashes. Miscellaneous windows, some altered, mostly under flat gauged-brick arches; 2 doors on garden front of C17 wing, of tapered boards. Interior. Only the principal rooms accessible at time of survey (1984) are described. Two superimposed great halls, both equally rich and forming part of the late C15 or early C16 structure are the feature of unique interest. Lower storey: passage behind entrance; parlour to left has jowled corner posts, moulded oak beam structure with original boards between moulded joists laid flat, cross-beam against front wall, Tudor fireplace now concealed and door of 5 raised and fielded panels in massive frame with raised strapwork; lower great hall (behind parlour) has rebuilt left wall with parts of 2 moulded oak posts with heavily moulded brackets on attached octagonal colonettes with belled-out caps, and, probably inserted, Tudor fireplace of stone opened out to form window embrasure, 3 complete moulded oak posts on right side, massive oak framing with an intermediate rail, fine ceiling structure of moulded oak beams, window with closely-spaced hollow.-moulded oak mullions (now giving onto passage), graffito of male figure in courtly dress (side view) scratched in plaster panel, looking C15, and (in cross-wing rear, left) a smaller Tudor stone fireplace. The moulded principal posts to the lower and upper great halls are continuous through both storeys with integral brackets carved from the stumps of branches of the trunks at 1st floor and truss-springs, all closely matched in height and section, a remarkable feature, showing that the lower and upper halls were parts of the original structure, with the moulded faces of the posts standing proud of the wall faces. Late C17 open-well oak stair has solid panelled newels, heavy moulded rails and no balusters. Upper storey: The upper hall has (probably C18) replaced boarded floor; the lower part of the moulded post-faces cut away, probably during reflooring; 2 fine trusses with deeply moulded arched tie-beams, canted collars and moulded posts between, good roses, moulded roof-panels with quatrefoil windbraces; doorway with ogee head cut into beam at front of hall, in massive oak framing with an intermediate rail; a Tudor stone fireplace and another in alcove to left at rear (in cross-wing). The mouldings, colonettes and brackets on the principal posts are similar to those in the lower hall. Oak framing in parts of the building not inspected in detail suggest that the lower and upper great halls have been shortened. The timber structure cannot be dated precisely without further investigation. The marriage of Sir John Warburton, who possessed the Hall, to Joan, daughter of Sir William Stanley of Holt "the richest commoner in England" and chamberlain at Henry VII's court could have provided the money and incentive for an innovative plan admirably executed during the 1470s/80s, but Sir John's family built a similarly rich great hall with some parallel features at Dutton nearby in 1539-42, and intermediate floors in great halls are more commonly C16. B Coward The Stanleys 1385-1672 Chetham Society 1983; photographs of Dutton Hall (since demolished) The Duttons of Dutton, 1901 Cheshire Record Office L1462; G Ormerod History of Cheshire vols 1 and 2, 2nd Edition; William Webb's itinerary of Cheshire 1622-3 published in King's Vale Royal of England 1656 refers to Sutton hall as "an antient manour house". C.f. moulded posts of great hall of Adlington Hall, Cheshire, finished 1505.

Listing NGR: SJ5448679081

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

436810

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Coward, B, The Stanleys 1385-1672, (1983)
King, D, The Vale Royal of England, (1656)
Ormerod, , History of Cheshire, (1882)
Ormerod, , History of Cheshire, (1882)

End of official list entry

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