Description

WORTLEY WORTLEY PARK SK39NW 4/131 Wortley Hall with attached 25.4.69 south-front terrace and steps including attached retaining wall and steps to wing set back on left

GV II* Country house now rest home. South front 1742-46 by Giacomo Leoni for Edward Wortley-Montagu (d1761); east wing 1757-61 by Matthew Brettingham, mason/ executive architects were George Platt (d1743) and son John. Additions by John Platt for Lady Bute (d1784) during 1784-88, completed for James Archibald Stuart Wortley under guidance of John Carr of York. Probably remodelled and lantern added by William Burn c1867-73 (Hewlings, pp397-400). Ashlar sandstone, graduated slate roofs. Irregular plan, mostly 2 storeys. 7-bay south front with 5-bay wing set back by 5 bays on left and with single linking bay; east front of 1 : 1 : 3 : 3 bays with wing on right forming part of extensive service ranges enclosing courtyard. Front terrace with retaining wall and central steps flanked by urns; additional steps and balustraded retaining wall to front-left corner of wing set back on left. South front: 1 : 1 : 3 : 1 : 1 bays, outer bays flanked by twin Ionic pilasters, central 3-bay pediment breaks forward. Moulded plinth. Central French window in architrave beneath consoled cornice. Moulded sill band links 2-pane sashes; bays 1, 3, 5 and 7 have balustraded aprons, shouldered architraves, pulvinated friezes and dentilled pediments, bay 2 and 6 have cornices. 1st floor: central 8-pane window, other bays with 6-pane windows, all in architraves. Full entablature surmounted by balustrade, central pediment with arms of James Archibald Stuart Wortley (added on his elevation to the peerage in 1826). Hipped roof with ashlar stacks set to rear. Octagonal lantern over entrance on right return has archivolted openings beneath lead-covered dome with finial. Wing set back on left: wider bay 5 projects and has tripartite windows to each floor, that to ground floor with cornice and pedimented central light. 4-pane sashes to each floor on left, balustrade to hipped roof with corniced ridge stack and end stack on left. Linking bay with pedimented doorway beneath blind architrave; balustraded parapet. Attached retaining wall on left has balustrade and 2 flights of steps. Right return: bay 1 flanked by twin pilasters as front. Quoined projection on right with window having bracketed sill, architrave with segmental pediment, 6-pane sash in architrave above. Set back on right main entrance has Ionic-columned doorcase with archivolt within open pediment. 3 bays on right have sashes with glazing bars in corniced architraves, deep floor band beneath 4 sashes, entablature and balustrade as front. 3 bays further right set back: sashes with glazing bars to each floor, modillioned cornice, blind balustrade. Service wing attached on right.

Interior: dining room (ground-floor bay 7 of south front) has marble Ionic-columned screen and oak panelling with decorative doorcases having oak-leaf friezes, archivolt to servery; elegant ceiling with relief plasterwork and armorial panel (heavily repainted). Sitting room (at centre of south front): fluted-columned screen, plaster wall panels, ceiling in Rococo style. Room to rear left (of south front) with end-wall fireplaces and panelling with well-carved drops depicting musical instruments; fine panelled door with carving. Salon (now called Foundry Hall) elaborately decorated c1860 with Japanese and exotic motifs, by Geoffrey Sykes of Sheffield, completed by Sir John Poynter,central lantern with stained-glass side lights. Central hall with C19 imperial staircase having brass balusters to wooden handrail. Landing with marbled Ionic columns flanking recesses, frieze with bucrania, oval lantern. C19 armorial glass panels against north window of landing. Former home of the Wortley Montagu and Stuart Wortley families.

Used by army during 1939-45 after which the hall fell into disrepair. Purchased by trade union and Labour movement in 1950 to become educational holiday centre.

R. Hewlings, 'Wortley Hall', Archaeological Journal, vol 137, 1980, pp397-400.

Wortley Hall Labour's Home - 25 Years Souvenir, booklet.

Listing NGR: SK3124199495

External Links

• Wortley Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q8037282

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
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)