Loton Park

Last updated November 05, 2019

Loton Park is a country house near Alberbury, Shrewsbury in Shropshire, on the upper reaches of the River Severn. It is a Grade II* listed building. It has been the seat of the Leighton family since 1391.^[1]

Alberbury is a village in Shropshire, England, 9 miles (14 km) west of Shrewsbury on the B4393 road which travels from Ford to Lake Vyrnwy. It is on to the England-Wales border, marked by Prince's Oak.

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, England. The town is on the River Severn and the 2011 census recorded a population of 71,715.

Shropshire is a county in England, bordering Wales to the west, Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, and Worcestershire and Herefordshire to the south. Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998 but continues to be included in the ceremonial county.

The red kite is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species currently breeds in the Western Palearctic region of Europe and northwest Africa, though it formerly also occurred in northern Iran. It is resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwest Africa, but birds from northeastern and central Europe winter further south and west, reaching south to Turkey. Vagrants have reached north to Finland and south to Israel, Libya and Gambia.

History

The estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The core of the present house dates from the 17th century, though significant remodelling was carried out throughout the 19th century. The ruins of an earlier castle, built in 1340, survive in the grounds.^[1]

Domesday Book 11th-century survey of landholding in England as well as the surviving manuscripts of the survey

Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states:

Then, at the midwinter [1085], was the king in Gloucester with his council .... After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all England into each shire; commissioning them to find out "How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire."

The north front was built in 1712 by Sir Edward Leighton, 2nd Baronet, who moved his family seat here from Wattlesborough Castle, and was High Sheriff of Shropshire for 1727. In 1805, the 5th Baronet entertained the Prince Regent and the Duke of Clarence at Loton. Sir Baldwin Leighton, 6th Baronet was wounded in the American War of Independence, was a Brigadier in Portugal and Governor of Carrickfergus Castle.^[2]

There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Leighton, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2010.

Wattlesborough Tower is a ruined fortified 13th-century manor house or Tower House in Shropshire. It is situated close to the boundary with Powys in Wales. Wattlesborough is a former township within the present parish of Alberbury. The castle is a Grade 1 listed scheduled monument. The Tower comprises a square two-storey tower above an undercroft surrounded by a moated enclosure with a fishpond. The Leighton family inherited Wattlesborough in 1471 and used it as their chief residence until circa 1711. At that time an adjoining farm building was constructed and named Wattlesborough Hall.

This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of Shropshire

The house is currently the home of Sir Michael Leighton, 11th Baronet.

The estate is also prominent in motorsport as the location of the Loton Park Hill Climb.

Loton Park Hill Climb is a hillclimb held in part of the Loton Park deer park in Shropshire, England. The track was originally constructed by the members of The Severn Valley Motor Club based in Shrewsbury, in the mid-1950s. The first ever winner was Peter Foulkes in a Cooper Climax. The track was threatened with closure in 1969 and since then events have been organised by the Hagley & District Light Car Club, who obtained the lease on the land from owner Sir Michael Leighton in 1970, in which year the first National A hillclimb was staged.

Architectural

Loton Hall is a Grade II*-listed building, dated c.1670. A country house, originally with a U-shaped plan, a large wing was added to the southeast in 1872–73. The house is built in red brick with dressings in red and grey sandstone and a tile roof. The earlier part has a plinth, quoins, chamfered, coped and parapeted gables with finials. There are two storeys, a basement and attics, and a front of five bays, the outer bays projecting and gabled. In the centre is a three-bay loggia-porch that has arches with imposts, Tuscan columns, an entablature, and a balustrade. Above, the central window has Corinthian columns and a broken triangular pediment containing a cartouche, and above that is a gabled half-dormer. The later wing to the right has one storey with attics, and nine bays, and contains gables, mullioned and transomed windows, and a full-height canted bay window.^[3]^[4]

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 town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry that ruled rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832. Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses.

Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized mineral particles or rock fragments.

A chamfer is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces.

Related Research Articles

Minsterley is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. In the 2011 census, its population was 1,777. Minsterley lies one mile south-west of Pontesbury and 10 miles south-west of Shrewsbury. East from Minsterley along the A488, is the larger village of Pontesbury and to its south the hill range, the Stiperstones. The Rea Brook flows nearby and the smaller Minsterley Brook flows through the centre of the village.

Wrottesley Hall is a 1923-built Grade II listed house in the civil parish of Perton, and historically part of Tettenhall in Staffordshire, England.

Bedstone Court is an imposing 19th-century country house at Bedstone, Shropshire, England. It is occupied by Bedstone College, an independent educational establishment, and is a Grade II listed building.

Haughton Hall is an early 18th-century country house situated at Haughton Lane, Shifnal, Shropshire, England now converted for use as a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Eccleston Paddocks is a large house in the village of Eccleston, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. When the French architect Paul Sédille saw it, he exclaimed "C'est un petit château!" That is, "This is a small castle!"

Sir Baldwin Leighton, 7th Baronet British politician and landowner

Sir Baldwin Leighton, 7th Baronet was an English landowner and politician, who sat in the House of Commons from 1859 to 1865.

3–31 Northgate Street is a terrace of shops, offices and a public house on the west side of Northgate Street, Chester, Cheshire, England. All the buildings have a set-back ground floor with a covered walkway, are timber-framed in their upper storeys, and are listed buildings, being graded II* or II. The part of the terrace comprising numbers 5–31 is known as Shoemakers' Row, or Sadler's Row.

Sir Baldwyn Leighton, 8th Baronet was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1877 to 1885.

Somerford Booths Hall is a grade II* listed country house in the parish of Somerford Booths, Cheshire, England, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) northwest of Congleton on the bank of the River Dane.

Boughton Monchelsea Place, previously Boughton Court, is a 16th-century country house in Boughton Monchelsea, Kent, England. The first part of the house was built by Robert Rudston circa 1567–75 on the site of an earlier manor house. It has been modified a number of times during its history achieving its present form in 1819. It has been a home to a number of members of parliament for Maidstone or for Kent, including Sir Francis Barnham, Sir Robert Barnham (1646–85) Sir Barnham Rider (1698–1728) and Thomas Rider (1805–47).

Hampton Hall is a country house in Worthen, Shropshire.

Brackenhill Tower is a peel tower, in the parish of Arthuret, in Cumbria, just north of the River Lyne. The site is about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Kirklinton and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Longtown, or 10 miles (16 km) north of Carlisle and 8 miles (13 km) east of Gretna Green, and is a good defensive position, with ravines to the north and south. Extensions were added in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the original tower has had little alteration. It is the only remaining example of a Scottish tower house south of the border with England, and became a grade II* listed building in 1957.

The Church of St Teresa of Avila in Everton Road, Birkdale, Southport, Sefton, Merseyside, England, is an active Roman Catholic church in the diocese of Liverpool. It was built in 1897–98 and designed by the architectural partnership of James Sinnott, Bernard Sinnott & Daniel Powell. The church, together with its attached presbytery, is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

Burford House is an 18th-century country house in Burford, Shropshire, near Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, England. It now functions as a garden centre, cafe, garden and retail outlet.

Simonswood Hall is a country house in the civil parish of Simonswood in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It was built in 1687 and thoroughly restored in the 1880s. The house is constructed in sandstone with a stone-slate roof. There are two storeys with an attic, and three bays, the third bay being a cross wing projecting under a gable. On the left return is a single-storey lean-to extension. The doorway in the central bay has a rusticated surround, with voussoirs and a keystone. There is one window that is transomed, all the others being mullioned; all the windows have hood moulds. The house also has quoins and finials on the gables, which are coped. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Aldenham Park is a late 17th-century country house in Morville, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England which stands in 12 hectares of parkland. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Alberbury with Cardeston is a civil parish in Shropshire, England. It contains 58 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, seven are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the villages and settlements of Alberbury, Cardeston, Wollaston, Halfway House, and Rowton, and is otherwise rural. In the parish the listed buildings include two ruined castles, two country houses and associated structures including lodges, and three churches and items in the churchyards. Most of the other listed buildings are houses, cottages, farmhouses and farm buildings, and the rest include the remains of a windmill, two milestones, a public house, and a war memorial. Three of the listed buildings are also Scheduled Monuments.

References

1 2 "Sir Michael Leighton, Loton Park". Shropshire Life. 7 April 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
↑ "Shropshire Houses: Past and Present" . Retrieved 30 April 2013.
↑ Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). Shropshire. The Buildings of England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 102–105. ISBN 0-300-12083-4.
↑ Historic England & 1055246

English Heritage:Images of England, detailed architectural description

External links

Coordinates: 52°43′23.71″N2°57′0.11″W / 52.7232528°N 2.9500306°W / 52.7232528; -2.9500306

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[shropshirelife-1] 1 2 "Sir Michael Leighton, Loton Park". Shropshire Life. 7 April 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2018.

[2] "Shropshire Houses: Past and Present" . Retrieved 30 April 2013.

[3] Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). Shropshire. The Buildings of England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 102–105. ISBN 0-300-12083-4.

[FOOTNOTEHistoric_England1055246-4] Historic England & 1055246