Sutton Hall is a former
country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
to the west of the village of
Sutton Lane Ends,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, England.
The present building dates from the middle of the 17th century, with additions and alterations in the late 18th century, and replaced a previous manor house.
It has since been converted into a pub/restaurant.
Description
The house is constructed partly in stone, and partly in
timber framing
Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
, with a U-shaped plan. The arms of the "U" end in irregular
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s. The left gable is in stone, and the right is timber-framed. The upper storey of the right gable is
jettied, the jetty being supported on brackets carved with wooden figures, one a knight in chain mail. Between the two wings is the former
great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...
. A 16th century chapel at the rear of the house, which has served at different times as stables and as a convent, now serves as the restaurant kitchens. The house is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
as a designated Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
Not far from the hall is a Bronze Age barrow or cairn, probably a cremation site, now much reduced in size.
History
Once the property of the Sir Humphrey Davenport,
Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1631, the Manor of Sutton later passed by marriage to Sir Rowland Belasyse, an ancestor of the Earls of Fauconberg. In 1819 it was acquired by the Countess of Lucan and descended to her successors, the Lords Lucan, primarily used as a farmhouse. The countess had been born Elizabeth Belasyse, daughter of
Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl Fauconberg
Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl Fauconberg (13 April 1742 – 23 March 1802) was a British politician and peer.
Family
Fauconberg was the son of Thomas Belasyse, 1st Earl Fauconberg and Catherine Betham.Arthur Collins, ''The peerage of England'' (177 ...
and in 1794 had married
Richard Bingham, who became the 2nd Earl of Lucan in 1799. By 1804, after six children, they had separated.
In the 1880s and 1890s, the property was rented by the explorers
Theodore Bent and his wife
Mabel Bent.
[''The Gentlewoman – The Illustrated Weekly Journal for Gentlewomen'', No. 175, Vol. VII, 11 November 11, 1893, pages 621–2.]
In 2008 the building was substantially refurbished as a restaurant by Brunning and Price, the then owners.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Sutton, Cheshire East
References
{{Reflist
Houses completed in the 17th century
Country houses in Cheshire
Timber framed buildings in Cheshire
Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire