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Aston Hall is an early red-brick Jacobean mansion designed by
John Thorpe and built by Sir Thomas Holte in 1618-1635. It
stands on a rise in Aston Park, overlooking Villa Park
football ground.
The main body of the house, which faces east, is flanked by
projecting wings capped by square turrets, domes and spires. An
axial tower, behind the slightly-protruding main facade,
increases the sense of space.
Although essentially baroque, the hall also possesses typical
Dutch vertical features such as the large bay windows and
stepped Dutch gables that contrast with its horizontal roof
balustrades and open parapets.
Aston Hall was sold by Mary Holte to James Watt Junior in
1817; after his death, it became a private leisure park and
museum.
Queen Victoria, who opened this new venture, complained to
the Mayor of Birmingham after the scandalous death of a
glamorous trapeze artist in the park. He bought the
hall for the city so that it might be properly supervised; it is now a grade one listed building.
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