The House before the massive 1850s rebuilding. From an 1828 engraving from "Neale's Views of Seats."
Earlier Houses: The 18th century Palladian house replaced a 15th century half-timbered manor house on the site that was demolished in 1788.
Built / Designed For: Sir William Stanley, 5th Bt.
House & Family History: The 18th century house was the earliest of Wyatt's villa-type houses. Circa 1850 the Stanley family sold Hooton to R.C. Naylor, a wealthy Liverpool banker. Naylor massively enlarged the House in a grand Italianate style, adding new wings, a Chapel, a 100-foot-tall tower, and a massive arched and colonnaded sculpture gallery. During the Great War the House was used as a military hospital, from which it never recovered. Hooton Hall was demolished circa 1935.
Garden & Outbuildings: In 1917 Hooton Park Airfield was built to train pilots from Canada and the United States for service in World War I. During World War II the airfield became a military base; three RAF auxiliary squadrons remained based here until they were disbanded in 1957. Much of the airfield (including the site of the House) was transformed in 1962 into a factory for Vauxhall Motors. In 2000 the Hooton Park Trust was formed for the purpose of restoring the remaining Grade II*-listed World War I and II airplane hangars. Wyatt's Lodges near Childer Thornton Church are extant.
Architect: James Kellaway Colling
Date: 1854Architect: James Wyatt
Date: 1778-88John Preston (J.P.) Neale, published under the title of Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, among other titles: 2.S. Vol. V, 1829.
Title: Cheshire Country Houses
Author: de Figueiredo, Peter; Treuherz, Julian
Year Published: 1988
Reference: pg. 244
Publisher: Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.
ISBN: 0850336554
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pg. 1195
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Demolished
Park Listed: Not Listed
Past Seat / Home of: Sir William Stanley, 5th Bt., 18th century; Sir Thomas Stanley Massey Stanley, 9th Bt., 19th century. R.C. Naylor, mid-19th century.
Current Ownership Type: Demolished
Primary Current Ownership Use: Demolished
Ownership Details: The Hooton Park Trust was formed in 2000 to oversee and manage the restoration of the remaining World War I hangars on the former RAF airfield at Hooton Park.
House Open to Public: House Demolished - Grounds Open to Public
Phone: 01513-273-565
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hootonparktrust.co.uk
Historic Houses Member: No