Walton Hall, Cheshire

The house was built in 1836–38 for Sir Gilbert Greenall, 1st Baronet, brewer and Member of Parliament. In 1869–70 the house was extended and offices were added by the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin. The extension included a new wing with a tower, containing a billiards room and rooms for guests, and a new entrance on the east front. The house and grounds were purchased by Warrington Corporation in 1941. The gardens were opened to the public in 1945. Most of Paley and Austin's extension was demolished in about 1990, but the tower was retained.

The house is built in brown brick with stone dressings and slate roofs. The east front has 2½ storeys and two wide bays with bay windows, two crow-stepped gables and three pinnacled octagonal buttresses. The entrance (north) front has a projecting porch. The clock tower to the west has four stages, the top stage containing the clock, and surmounted by a lead-roofed cupola and large weather vane. The south face has a mullioned and transomed window and three crow-stepped gables.

Sir Gilbert Greenall (1806–1894) built Walton Hall in 1836. He was the son of Edward Greenall (1758–1835) who had purchased the Walton Estate in 1812. At this time there was an old hall on the property north east of the present building (shown on the 1882 map) which has since been demolished. When his father died in 1835 Gilbert inherited the Walton Estate. In the following year he married Mary Claughton. In this year also he commenced building Walton Hall, a project which took two years. He was a partner in his long established family brewing firm of Greenall Whitley & Company with his brothers and made a large fortune. He invested his money in property and became part of the landed…

The gardens and grounds are open to the public. Close to the hall are formal gardens, and a children's zoo. A group known as the Friends of Walton Estate assist in the care and management of the estate. Each year the Warrington Disability Partnership organise a Disability Awareness Day in the grounds. The Friends of Walton Hall Music Society organises a series of chamber music concerts in the concert room. The hall is also available for weddings. The property was used for the exterior shots in the filming of the BBC drama series Our Zoo. Located in the Old Laundry Rooms, close to the Main Hall, is a Cycle Museum, owned and run by cycling enthusiast Paul Adams.