Description:This photograph was taken on the viewing platform located on the site of Trentham Hall. Looking south over the Italianate Terraces and fountains towards the statue of Perseus and Capability Brown’s lake, it is possible to gain an impression of the views that would have been enjoyed from the south front windows of the Hall before it was demolished.
St Modwen purchased the Estate in 1996. Leading landscape architects and designers, Tom Stuart-Smith, Piet Oudolf and Dominic Cole guided the restoration of the gardens. The Italian Gardens were fully restored during 2003-2009 within the formal framework originally designed by Charles Barry. Although the contemporary planting of the Terraces is different, this overall scene (in October 2013) has not drastically changed over the years.
The original Trentham Hall was built in the 1630s for the Dukes of Sutherland. The Caroline house was replaced in the early eighteenth century by one in a Classical style. Capability Brown and Henry Holland worked on the landscape and hall between 1768 and 1778.
The house was redesigned in an Italianate style in the nineteenth century by Sir Charles Barry, who also laid out Italian gardens to the front of the hall.
Trentham Hall was abandoned by the family as a permanent residence in 1905. In 1910 the Duke of Sutherland offered the hall to the County of Staffordshire and the Borough of Stoke-on-Trent. The offer was refused and the building was demolished, apart from the west front and stable block. The tower was re-erected on the Sandon Hall Estate.
Today the grounds have been developed as a tourist attraction and exhibition, conference and leisure centre.