Description

SJ 3514 ALBERBURY WITH ALBERBURY
CARDESTON C.P.
12/23 Loton Park
29.1.52

GV II*

Country house. Circa 1670, enlarged 1711, extended and remodelled
c.1830 and c.1838 by Thomas Jones (c.1794-1859) of Chester, and further
enlarged in 1873. Red brick with grey and red (c.1870) sandstone ashlar
dressings; 2-span plain tile roof. C17 U- or H- plan house, C18 addition
to north and c.1873 wing at angle to south-east. Basement, 2 storeys
and attic with one storey and attic wing. South front: chamfered stone
plinth, quoins, chamfered stone-coped parapeted gables with shaped keeelers,
and finials at feet and apexes; C19 brick stacks consisting of star-shaped
shafts with moulded bases and oversailing tops [central stack truncated
at time of survey (June 1985) after a fire]. 1:3:1 bays with projecting
gabled (gables added c.1838) wings and central gabled semi-dormer;
mid-C19 wooden cross-windows with chamfered reveals and returned hoodmoulds;
central first-floor window with flanking stone Corinthian columns supporting
broken triangular pediment with heraldic cartouche in tympanum ; pair of French
casements flanking central pair of half-glazed doors with moulded architrave
and doorcase with Ionic pilasters supporting frieze and cornice; central
c.1838 three-bay ashlar loggia/porch with 4 steps to base, round arches
with imposts, Tuscan columns supporting entablature, and balustrade.
Circa 1870 theatre-wing to right consisting of 3-bay centre with buttresses
dividing tall 2-light mullion and transomed windows and 3 gables above,
full-height canted bay to left with 3-light mullioned and transomed window
and arcaded parapet, and gabled wing to right with buttresses flanking large
5-light mullioned and transomed window and 3-light attic window. Rear:
high stone plinth with cyma-recta moulded top, plat band, pilaster strips
with chamfered rustication, moulded cornice, raised and fielded panelled
pilaster strips to attic with moulded cornice, and coped parapet ramped
up to centre with square-section balustrading above windows; C18
square-section lead downpipes between second and third and seventh and eighth
bays with moulded rainwater heads. 2:1:3:1:2 bays, set-back to centre;
early and late C18 glazing bar sashes (some replaced by C19 two-light
wooden casements) with gauged brick heads, projecting keystones, moulded
stone cills and moulded brick aprons; central first-floor window
with moulded architrave, small flanking volutes, frieze, and continuous
cornice breaking forward in centre; central attic window with lugged architrave
triple keystone, frieze, and continuous cornice breaking forward at ends;
former central doorway (now sash) with moulded architrave, and doorcase
consisting of oddly proportioned fluted Doric pilasters with short sections
of entablature above, frieze with paterae, and segmental pediment with
broken back centre (external staircase missing). 2-bay return frontswith
panelled parapets. Interior: mainly early C18 and early C19; entrance hall
with C18 marble floor, C18 bolection moulded panelling, early C19 Tudor
Gothic stone fireplace with flanking arches through to rest of house; dining
room with C18 bolection-moulded panelling and fluted pilasters, and
C18 chimney-piece by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard with lugged architrave,
carved foliage decoration, frieze with swags, and dentil cornice;
drawing room with C18 raised and fielded panelling and pilasters; large
drawing room with late C18 fireplace consisting of columns with acanthus
capitals, bucrania, husk garlands and cornice, and C19 panelled ceiling
with carved bosses and openwork frieze; dog-leg staircase with closed
string, turned balusters, moulded handrail, panelled square newel posts,
and wainscot panelling; theatre in 1873 wing with chamfered stone arches,
chamfered-arched stone fireplace, west gallery, and panelling; chimney-piece
by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard in first-floor front room [removed at time
of survey (June 1985) for restoration work after a fire]. Loton Park is
the Leighton family home. Robert Mylne (1733-1811) made alterations for
Sir Charlton Leighton, Bart. in 1773-4, but no evidence for them survives;
E. Haycock (1790-1870) of Shrewsbury made alterations for Sir Balwin Leighton
Bart. in 1819 (drawings at the house). Thomas Jones carried out alterations
for Sir Baldwin Leighton in 1830 and 1838,which probably included the
addition of the south gables to the C17 block and the porch (drawings at
the house). V.C.H., Vol. VIII, pp.199-200; B.O.E., p.175; Burke's and
Savills Guide to Country Houses, Vol. II, Hereford, Shropshire, Warwicks
and Worcester, Ed. Peter Reid, Burkes Peerage (1980); Colvin, pp.624,
405-7, 476 and 576.

Listing NGR: SJ3567814739

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Loton Park at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q6684815

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)