Winnington Hall
Encyclopedia
Winnington Hall is a former country house
in Winnington
, now a suburb of Northwich
, Cheshire
, England . It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building. The building is in effect two houses joined together, an older modest timber-framed
house, and a newer, more elegant, stone house.
and Arley
, Cheshire
. Originally in three bays
, it was extended by another two bays for Thomas Warburton, whose wife Anne was joint heir to the Penrhyn
estate near Bangor
in North Wales. A brick service wing
was added to the north of the house in the early 18th century. In 1765 Anne Warburton's daughter, Anne Susanna, married the other heir to the Penrhyn estate, Richard Pennant
, who later became the 1st Baron Penrhyn. In 1775 Pennant commissioned Samuel Wyatt
to design what became the larger stone extension to the house. In a possible attempt to harmonise the older part of the house with the stone extension, in the early 19th century the timber-framed wing was coated with roughcast and castellated
. Meanwhile Pennant's interests had moved to his other estate at Penrhyn, and in 1809 he sold Winnington to John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley
. Stanley's home, Alderley Hall, had burnt down 30 years previously, and his family were living in temporary accommodation on the Alderley estate. However Stanley spent much of his time in London, and the condition of the building deteriorated. In 1817 the Stanley family moved back to Alderley where a new hall was being built. Stanley's son, Edward
, moved into the house in 1842, but left for Alderley Hall in 1850 after succeeding to the barony.
For some years the hall was used as a girls' finishing school
under Miss Margaret Alexis Bell and Miss Mary Jane Bell, where Sir Charles Hallé
visited to give recitals and John Ruskin
lectured on art. In 1872 the estate and hall were bought by John Brunner and Ludwig Mond
. In 1870 Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley
, who was short of money, had offered the estate of 600 acres (242.8 ha) for sale but received no bids for it. Brunner and Mond has been searching for land to build a chemical factory, and having been thwarted by Lord Delamere
from buying land near his Vale Royal
estate, turned to Winnington. They paid £16,108 (£ as of ), for the whole estate, including the hall and the woodland. Their initial intention had been to demolish the hall, but they then decided to live in it. In 1873 Mond and his family moved into the newer wing of the hall and later that year the Brunners moved into the older wing. The roughcast was removed from the older part, much of the timber was replaced, and the attic floor was abandoned. In all, £2,000 (£ as of ), was spent on repairs to the old wing. The Brunners moved out of the house in 1891 and the Monds at a later date. After the First World War the building was converted for use as the Winnington Hall Club for the use of the staff of Brunner Mond
, (later Imperial Chemical Industries
(ICI)). This included adding rooms to the northeast of the older wing, and building kitchens and utility rooms to the north of the new wing. The building was restored in about 1920 by Darcy Braddell, who was responsible for much of the current internal decoration. As of 2011, the hall is divided into over 40 offices, and it is managed by a service company who provide the offices for rental.
d bays
. It stands on a stone plinth
, and its panels are filled with plaster
. The exterior is decorated with close studding
and chevrons. The porch dates from the 19th century, and is also timber-framed. On the left side of the wing is a projecting canted
bay containing sash window
s. To the right of the wing is a later addition consisting of a three-storey bay surmounted by a spire. Beyond this is a service wing "with no features of special interest". The stone wing is also in five bays and two storeys, and it rises to a greater height than the oak wing. It also stands on a plinth, and has canted ends. In the lower storey are 15-pane sash windows, and in the upper storey are nine-sash windows, with recessed panels containing festoon
s.
d anteroom leading to the Octagon Room. To the northwest of these rooms are parts of the original oak wing, and newer additions, all acting as service rooms. The Stone Hall, with its low ceiling, was re-dressed by Wyatt in Neoclassical
style. It forms a contrast with the spacious nature of the Gallery, which is in four vaulted
bays
. Each of these bays is lit by a glazed lunette
, below which are oval medal
lions containing a depiction of a neoclassical figure, and a niche
holding a black basalt
vase. The Orangery has large windows with cast iron
glazing bars. The Octagon contains a Neoclassical fireplace, a delicately decorated plaster
ceiling, and a frieze
of winged gryphon
s. The Dining Room has an apsidal end. On the first floor is a suite of rooms designed by Wyatt.
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
in Winnington
Winnington
Winnington is a small, mainly residential area of the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England.-Industry:Winnington is the home to Brunner Mond UK chemical works, where soda ash is created. Polythene, the material used in many plastic items , was first made at the chemical works by R.O. Gibson and...
, now a suburb of Northwich
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England . It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building. The building is in effect two houses joined together, an older modest timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
house, and a newer, more elegant, stone house.
History
The original timber-framed house was built in the late 16th or early 17th century for a member of the Warburton family of WarburtonWarburton, Greater Manchester
Warburton is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Cheshire, Warburton lies on the south bank of the River Mersey between the borough of Warrington and Greater Manchester. Today, the village remains...
and Arley
Arley, Cheshire
Arley is a small village in the civil parish of Aston by Budworth, Cheshire, England adjacent to Arley Hall. 0.7 miles to the east is a small group of houses known as Arley Green. The village is 3.8 miles south of Lymm and 5 miles north of Northwich.The buildings now comprising Arley Green...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. Originally in three bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
, it was extended by another two bays for Thomas Warburton, whose wife Anne was joint heir to the Penrhyn
Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle is a country house in Llandegai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, in the form of a Norman castle. It was originally a medieval fortified manor house, founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In 1438, Ioan ap Gruffudd was granted a licence to crenellate and he founded the stone castle and added a...
estate near Bangor
Bangor, Gwynedd
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
in North Wales. A brick service wing
Servants' quarters
Servants' quarters are those parts of a building, traditionally in a private house, which contain the domestic offices and staff accommodation. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century they were a common feature in all large houses...
was added to the north of the house in the early 18th century. In 1765 Anne Warburton's daughter, Anne Susanna, married the other heir to the Penrhyn estate, Richard Pennant
Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn
Richard Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn was a slave owner, anti-abolitionist Member of Parliament and Irish peer.Richard Pennant was educated at Newsome's academy in Hackney and Trinity College, Cambridge...
, who later became the 1st Baron Penrhyn. In 1775 Pennant commissioned Samuel Wyatt
Samuel Wyatt
Samuel Wyatt was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th and 19th century English architects, his work was primarily in a neoclassical style.-Career:...
to design what became the larger stone extension to the house. In a possible attempt to harmonise the older part of the house with the stone extension, in the early 19th century the timber-framed wing was coated with roughcast and castellated
Battlement
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...
. Meanwhile Pennant's interests had moved to his other estate at Penrhyn, and in 1809 he sold Winnington to John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley
John Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley
John Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley , known as Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet, from 1807 to 1839, was a British peer and politician....
. Stanley's home, Alderley Hall, had burnt down 30 years previously, and his family were living in temporary accommodation on the Alderley estate. However Stanley spent much of his time in London, and the condition of the building deteriorated. In 1817 the Stanley family moved back to Alderley where a new hall was being built. Stanley's son, Edward
Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley
Edward John Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley PC , known as The Lord Eddisbury between 1848 and 1850, was a British politician.-Background:...
, moved into the house in 1842, but left for Alderley Hall in 1850 after succeeding to the barony.
For some years the hall was used as a girls' finishing school
Finishing school
A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...
under Miss Margaret Alexis Bell and Miss Mary Jane Bell, where Sir Charles Hallé
Charles Hallé
Sir Charles Hallé was an Anglo-German pianist and conductor, and founder of The Hallé orchestra in 1858.-Life:Hallé was born in Hagen, Westphalia, Germany who after settling in England changed his name from Karl Halle...
visited to give recitals and John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
lectured on art. In 1872 the estate and hall were bought by John Brunner and Ludwig Mond
Ludwig Mond
Dr Ludwig Mond , was a German-born chemist and industrialist who took British nationality.-Education and career:...
. In 1870 Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley
Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley
Henry Edward John Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley and 2nd Baron Eddisbury was a historian who translated The first voyage round the world by Magellan and other works from the Age of Discovery...
, who was short of money, had offered the estate of 600 acres (242.8 ha) for sale but received no bids for it. Brunner and Mond has been searching for land to build a chemical factory, and having been thwarted by Lord Delamere
Hugh Cholmondeley, 2nd Baron Delamere
Hugh Cholmondeley, 2nd Baron Delamere , styled The Honourable from 1821 until 1855, was a British peer and politician.-Personal:...
from buying land near his Vale Royal
Vale Royal Abbey
Vale Royal Abbey is a medieval abbey, and later country house, located in Whitegate, between Northwich and Winsford in Cheshire, England.The abbey was founded in 1270 by Edward I for monks of the austere Cistercian order...
estate, turned to Winnington. They paid £16,108 (£ as of ), for the whole estate, including the hall and the woodland. Their initial intention had been to demolish the hall, but they then decided to live in it. In 1873 Mond and his family moved into the newer wing of the hall and later that year the Brunners moved into the older wing. The roughcast was removed from the older part, much of the timber was replaced, and the attic floor was abandoned. In all, £2,000 (£ as of ), was spent on repairs to the old wing. The Brunners moved out of the house in 1891 and the Monds at a later date. After the First World War the building was converted for use as the Winnington Hall Club for the use of the staff of Brunner Mond
Brunner Mond
Tata Chemicals Europe is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Limited, itself a part of the India-based Tata Group...
, (later Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
(ICI)). This included adding rooms to the northeast of the older wing, and building kitchens and utility rooms to the north of the new wing. The building was restored in about 1920 by Darcy Braddell, who was responsible for much of the current internal decoration. As of 2011, the hall is divided into over 40 offices, and it is managed by a service company who provide the offices for rental.
Exterior
The ground plan of the hall remains much as it was in the early part of the 20th century. The older timber-framed hall forms a southeast wing. The stone extension lies to the northwest and is parallel, but more to the west. The two wings are linked at the southeast end of the southeast wing. The English Heritage citation refers to the older part as the "oak wing" and the newer part is the "stone wing". The oak wing provides the entrance to the building. The original timber-framed part of the wing is in two stories plus attics, with five gableGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
. It stands on a stone plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
, and its panels are filled with plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
. The exterior is decorated with close studding
Close studding
Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels...
and chevrons. The porch dates from the 19th century, and is also timber-framed. On the left side of the wing is a projecting canted
Cant (architecture)
Cant is the architectural term describing part, or segment, of a facade which is at an angle to another part of the same facade. The angle breaking the facade is less than a right angle thus enabling a canted facade to be viewed as, and remain, one composition.Canted facades are a typical of, but...
bay containing sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s. To the right of the wing is a later addition consisting of a three-storey bay surmounted by a spire. Beyond this is a service wing "with no features of special interest". The stone wing is also in five bays and two storeys, and it rises to a greater height than the oak wing. It also stands on a plinth, and has canted ends. In the lower storey are 15-pane sash windows, and in the upper storey are nine-sash windows, with recessed panels containing festoon
Festoon
Festoon , a wreath or garland, and so in architecture a conventional arrangement of flowers, foliage or fruit bound together and suspended by ribbons, either from a decorated knot, or held in the mouths of lions, or suspended across the back of bulls heads as...
s.
Interior
The entrance porch leads into a room known as the Stone Hall. To the left of this is a room known as the Oak Room. To the right is the Billiard Room and beyond that is a series of rooms added around end of the 19th century. A passage leads from the Stone Hall past the staircase into Wyatt's stone wing. It leads into the Gallery, at the end of which is the Orangery. Parallel to these rooms and to the northwest are the Dining Room, with an apseApse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
d anteroom leading to the Octagon Room. To the northwest of these rooms are parts of the original oak wing, and newer additions, all acting as service rooms. The Stone Hall, with its low ceiling, was re-dressed by Wyatt in Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style. It forms a contrast with the spacious nature of the Gallery, which is in four vaulted
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
. Each of these bays is lit by a glazed lunette
Lunette
In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the...
, below which are oval medal
Medal
A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...
lions containing a depiction of a neoclassical figure, and a niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
holding a black basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
vase. The Orangery has large windows with cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
glazing bars. The Octagon contains a Neoclassical fireplace, a delicately decorated plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
ceiling, and a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
of winged gryphon
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
s. The Dining Room has an apsidal end. On the first floor is a suite of rooms designed by Wyatt.