Middleton Hall was a grand classical mansion built by 1799 with money obtained from business in the orient. It replaced an earlier house thought to have stood on the far side of the lake to the east. The huge landscaped park was laid out in the early years of the nineteenth century (see NPRN 86175). The mansion burnt in 1931 and the remains were demolished in 1951. The outlines of its footings are now marked out within the grounds of the National Botanic Gardens, which occupies the site (see NPRN 307111). The service block survives. Having served as a farmhouse following the 1931 fire it has now been restored to its original outward appearance.

The mansion was a great double pile house built of stuccoed brick with portland stone dressings. It had two storeys above a heavily rusticated basement, rising to a cornice topped by a balustraded parapet. A second balustrade ran through the window openings of the piano nobile - the grand apartments raised over the basement. Triple Venetian openings recurred as a motif on both main facades. The house faced south-west where it presented a five bay facade. The centre bay had a recessed porch-stair within a columed Venetian colonade ornamented with a mask, cornucopias and statues in niches. There was a Venetian window above. The bays to either side both had two square-headed windows on either floor. The outer bays were slightly advanced with single main floor arched window openings.

The north-east facade had a monumental Ionic portico rising to a grand pediment, with a single Venetian window to either side. The south-east end elevation had five windows to each floor, the central opening of the piano nobile having a pedimented hood.
A lower two storey range connected the main house to the service block. These were executed in the same manner as the house, although they were later altered. Beyond the service block an oval walled service yard still survives. This has a monumental arched entrance facing the classical stable block (NPRN 31623). The house, service block, yard and stables could be viewed as a single composition laid out along a common axis.

On the skyline to the north-east is Paxton's Tower (NPRN 79044), an eyecatcher banqueting house built for the same owner by the same architect.

Associated with: Icehouse (NPRN 31622)

Sources: NMR Site File
CADW Register of Parks & Gardens in Wales: Carmarthen., Ceredigion & Pembroke. (2002), 51-2

John Wiles, RCAHMW, 14 November 2007.