In the early 18th century the Oulton Estate was home to the

Egerton family The Egerton family (pronunciation: "''edge-er-ton''") is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Egerton family were made Dukes, Earls, knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Egerton family include t ...

and comprised a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

and a

formal garden A formal garden is a garden with a clear structure, geometric shapes and in most cases a symmetrical layout. Its origin goes back to the gardens which are located in the desert areas of Western Asia and are protected by walls. The style of a forma ...

surrounded by farmland in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. Later in the century the farmland was converted into a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

. The estate is now the site of the

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

track called

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

History

Grounds

In 1731, Philip Egerton (1694–1766) inherited the estate upon the death of his uncle, John Egerton (1656–1731). At that time the estate comprised a house, a formal garden and farmland totalling . Around 1752, Philip Egerton began to construct a brick wall to enclose the estate plus some additional fields, an area totalling . At his death in 1766, Philip was succeeded by his brother John, and then in 1770, by his son Philip (1738–1786). By this time the fashion for formal gardens had been overtaken by the concept of a landscaped garden with surrounding parkland. Philip Egerton commissioned

William Emes William Emes (1729 or 1730–13 March 1803) was an English landscape gardener. Biography Details of his early life are not known but in 1756 he was appointed head gardener to Sir Nathaniel Curzon at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. He left this post ...

to plan this for his estate. Emes' plan was produced about 1770, but the work was still in progress 10 years later. The plan was to do away with the formal garden, to divert the

brook A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...

and, by building

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s, to create two lakes connected by a

cascade Cascade, Cascades or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science *Cascade waterfalls, or series of waterfalls * Cascade, the CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense (a protein complex) * Cascade (grape), a type of fruit * Bioc ...

. A

banqueting hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the st ...

was to be built on an island in the larger lake. There was to be extensive planting of trees and shrubs. The park was to include a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

, gravel paths and a

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

House

In 1715, John Egerton commissioned the building of the new house. Tradition has it that the previous Tudor house had been destroyed by fire. The new house was in

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. Its main front was in 15

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

, the middle three bays being occupied by a

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

centrepiece, its

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

filled with carvings of trophies. A drawing exists showing a central dome, but if this dome in fact ever existed, it did not survive to the 19th century. On the sides were curved pediments. The entrance hall rose through the building's two storeys. It contained Corinthian

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and had a

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...

groined vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...

. Around 1773, the gates and gate piers which had been built around 1725 were removed to St Oswald's Church, Malpas. They were replaced by an entrance lodge comprising an arch with screen walls designed by Joseph Turner. In 1786, the house was inherited by John Egerton (1766–1825). He and his successors did carry out some improvements during the 19th century. Between about 1816 and 1820,

Lewis Wyatt Lewis William Wyatt (1777–1853) was a British architect, a nephew of both Samuel and James Wyatt of the Wyatt family of architects, who articled with each of his uncles and began practice on his own about 1805. Lewis Wyatt is known primarily f ...

altered the interior and added stables and a terrace. In 1926, the house was destroyed by fire, and in 1940, it was bombed.

Present day

The grounds are now used as a motor racing circuit. Some buildings that were part of the estate still exist. The entrance gates, lodges and screen designed by Joseph Turner in about 1775 are designated as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. In the grounds is a monument of 1846 to the memory of John Francis Egerton of the Bengal Horse Regiment, designed by Scott and Moffatt. It is also a Grade II* listed building. The stable block designed by Lewis Wyatt is still present and is listed at Grade II. A farm building close to the stable block is also listed at Grade II.

References

Citations Sources * * {{coord, 53.180, -2.616, display=title, type:landmark_region:GB Country parks in Cheshire Country houses in Cheshire