The initials 'J.W.' and 'M', for James Watts and his wife Margaret, placed within quatrefoils were used by Crace on the drawing room ceiling, but he changed the rest of the decorative scheme.

Abney Hall is situated in Cheadle, Cheshire. It was built in 1847 for Alfred Orrell a cotton-mill owner. After his death in 1849 it was bought by James Watts a Manchester merchant and mayor. Pugin helped with the redecoration for Watts, supplying designs to J.G. Crace. These designs for Abney Hall are amongst Pugin's last. He suffered from poor health whilst producing these designs and died later that year; the designs themselves seem to have been executed at speed, with a slightly shaky hand.

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) is widely considered as one of the most significant and influential architects, designers and theorists of the 19th century. Following his conversion to Catholicism in 1835, he identified the Gothic style with Christian architecture and his work and writings inspired and framed the Gothic Revival. In ‘Contrasts’, published in 1836, he condemned classical forms and ardently praised 14th and 15th-century architecture. Pugin is best remembered for his work on the Palace of Westminster.