Arley Hall
Arley Hall is a country house in the village of Arley, Cheshire, England, about south of Lymm and north of Northwich. It is home to the owner, Viscount Ashbrook, and his family. The house is a Grade II* listed building, as is its adjacent chapel. Formal gardens to the southwest of the hall are also listed as Grade II* on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In the grounds are more listed buildings, a cruck barn being listed as Grade I, and the other buildings as Grade II.
The hall was built for Rowland Egerton-Warburton between 1832 and 1845, to replace an earlier house on the site. Local architect George Latham designed the house in a style which has become known as Jacobethan, copying elements of Elizabethan architecture. A Gothic Revival chapel designed by Anthony Salvin was subsequently built next to the hall. By the mid-20th century, parts of the house were in poor condition and were demolished, to be replaced by five private homes in a matching architectural style.
The present gardens were created in the 1830s, and were developed during the 20th century. The garden's herbaceous border was the first of its type in England. The house and its gardens have been open to the public since the 1960s, and have also been used as a film location. Stockley Farm, part of the Arley estate, is an additional visitor attraction for children and families.
Hall
History
The Arley estate has been part of the land held by the Warburton family since the end of the 12th century. In 1469 Piers Warburton moved his principal seat from Warburton in Trafford, to Arley, and built the first house on the site. It consisted of a U-shaped building with the centre of the 'U' facing south. At the north was the great hall, long by wide. The high table was at the west end and the west wing contained the family apartments. The east wing was the servants' wing and included the buttery, pantry and kitchens. The original Arley Hall was constructed as a timber-framed building, and was surrounded by a square moat. A three-storey south front was added in about 1570, making the house a complete square with a large internal courtyard. In the 18th century the structure of the house was deteriorating, so in 1758 Sir Peter Warburton, 4th Baronet, completely encased the building in new brick walls. These were finished with stucco to make Neoclassical façades. The massive old chimneys were removed and replaced with small flues within the new walls. Between 1760 and 1763 Elizabeth Raffald, author of one of the century's most successful cookery books, The Experienced English Housekeeper, worked as the housekeeper at Arley.Structural problems continued. In 1813 the house and estate were inherited by Rowland Egerton-Warburton, who was only aged eight. In 1818 plans were drawn up by Lewis Wyatt to rebuild the west front in Neoclassical style, but these were not implemented. Egerton-Warburton came of age in 1826 and decided to completely replace the house. His intention was that the house should reflect the antiquity of his inheritance, but that it should be constructed using techniques which were modern at the time. He chose George Latham as his architect. Latham, who was practising in Nantwich, was at that time in his twenties and was relatively unknown. He submitted four schemes for a symmetrical Gothic house, but these were not accepted. Then Latham prepared new plans which he called "Queen Elizabethan". He suggested that this could be built for about £5,000–6,000. Every feature in the house had to have an exact model in an existing Elizabethan building. Egerton-Warburton and Latham visited 16th-century houses and studied illustrations to ensure that the features were dated correctly to Queen Elizabeth's reign. The first phase of the building took place between 1832 and 1835 when the east, north and west wings of the old building were demolished. The house was equipped with modern plumbing and it was raised on arches above the damp Cheshire clays. The second phase of building work, carried out between 1840 and 1845, replaced the old south front. The final cost of the house was almost £30,000.
In the 20th century Elizabeth Egerton-Warburton inherited the estate. She married Desmond Flower, who became the 10th Viscount Ashbrook, in 1934. Later in the century, parts of the south front were affected by dry rot and decay of the stonework; these were demolished in 1968, together with some of the servants' quarters, kitchens and offices, and notably the dining room on the site of the older Great Hall, to reduce maintenance costs. However this was considered detrimental to the building's architectural integrity, so in 1987 the lost wings were replaced by five new houses, modelled on the style of the hall. These houses were sold as private residences to raise money for the estate.
Architecture
Exterior
Designed in an "L" shape, the house is built of red brick with blue diaper patterning and stone dressings under a slate roof. It has two principal floors plus attics and a basement. The windows have stone surrounds, mullions and transoms. The south front is symmetrical, with seven bays and a pierced stone parapet. The external bays project forwards and have canted windows. A single-storey porch extends from the central bay. The building has a segmented entrance ornamented by a coat of arms in the spandrels flanked by Ionic columns. The west front includes a first-floor oriel window. The chimneys are in Tudor style, grouped in threes and fours.Interior
The principal entrance was formerly through the porch on the south front, but its large doors caused too many draughts. In 1862 an entrance was created in the west front, leading to the West Hall, which contains panelling from the old house. The West Hall in turn leads into the Library, which has one of Latham's most elaborate ceilings. The windows contain French stained glass, designed and made in Paris by M. Lusson. The Library leads to the former Front Hall, which was transformed into the Dining Room when the original dining room was demolished in 1968. In the Dining Room is a portrait of a noblemen, attributed to Cornelis Jonson. The Gallery was the family's principal sitting-room during the 19th century. The overmantel of the fireplace contains sculptures depicting St George slaying the dragon and, on each side, personifications of Hope and Patience, with appropriate inscriptions. The Drawing Room is in a different style from the other rooms on the ground floor, being plastered rather than panelled, and it contains much gilding. The room is devoted to the memory of Rowland Egerton-Warburton and contains a number of family portraits. Its coved ceiling, also designed by Latham, has a frieze depicting birds eating grapes. The final room on the ground floor open to the public is the Small Dining Room. It has a barrel-shaped ceiling, again designed by Latham. In the room is a virginal dated 1675 by Stephen Keene, and is one of the oldest surviving English keyboard instruments. Its front is decorated with portraits of Charles II and Queen Catherine. The Grand Staircase is considered to be Latham's finest work in the house. The staircase itself and the doorways are made of oak, and the decoration is in plasterwork and strapwork. Above the staircase is a glass-walled domed ceiling.On the upper floor, the South Bay Bedroom was originally the principal bedroom. It contains a collection of watercolours by Elizabeth Ashbrook. The Exhibition Room occupies a former dressing room and contains information about the history of the hall. The Emperor's Room is named after Prince Louis Napoleon, later Napoleon III, who stayed in the hall during the winter of 1847–48. It contains watercolours by Piers Egerton-Warburton, including pictures of timber-framed buildings in Northwest England and views of Arley and Great Budworth. The final room on the upper floor open to the public is the General's Room, dedicated to the memory of Sir George Higginson, the great-grandfather of the present Viscount Ashbrook, and contains memorabilia relating to him. Leading back to the ground floor is the Small Staircase, with its balustrade of oak capped with mahogany.