Welshpool and district
Important Victorians
  John Naylor and Leighton Hall  
 

The amazing building in the picture below is Leighton Hall, which stands across the valley from Powis Castle.
It is the very tall tower that makes the mansion look very different from almost every other Victorian house. The famous architect William Pugin, who designed the Houses of Parliament, was also involved in the design of Leighton Hall, which could be why the building looks a bit familiar !

  
Leighton Hall
near
Welshpool
 Leighton Hall
The inside of Leighton Hall looks so much like the Houses of Parliament - also designed by William Pugin - that it has often been used by the makers of films and TV programmes !
Leighton
Church
1853
 Leighton church
Leighton Hall was built in 1851 for John Naylor, who was a very wealthy banker from Liverpool. Like many leading Victorians, he was greatly interested in using some of his money to encourage new ideas.
He was particularly interested in trying out new ways to improve agriculture, for most farming methods had hardly changed for hundreds of years.
John Naylor's estates included a large working farm, which used water-driven turbines to power different kinds of machinery.
  
 

Other improvements to his estate included a private gasworks to provide lighting for Leighton Hall and the many other buildings on his land - including the fine Leighton Church (above) which he built for the local community in 1853.

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