Ramsdell Hall - Izeria

Ramsdell Hall is a country house in the parish of Odd Rode in Cheshire, England, overlooking the Macclesfield Canal. It was built in two phases during the 18th century, and is still in private ownership.

1. History

The house was built by William Lowndes in about 1760 in two phases. The central block was built in the middle of the century, and the wings were added later, probably in about 1768. It is possible that the architect for both phases was William Baker. The house continues to be in private ownership.

1. Architecture

Ramsdell Hall is constructed in brick with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. It consists of a three-storey central block, with single-storey wings ending in two-storey pavilions. The central block has an L-shaped plan. The garden front of the central block is symmetrical and has three bays. The central bay has Venetian windows in the ground and middle floors, and a three-light window in the top floor. The lateral bays have canted bay windows rising through all three storeys. Above the top floor windows is a cornice, with a pediment above the window in the central bay. Over this is a brick parapet with ball finials. The side wings each have three bays with round-arched windows. The central bay on each side projects slightly, with pilasters and an open pediment. The pavilions also project slightly, and have Venetian windows in the lower floor, with lunette windows in the gables above. The pavilions are surmounted by circular lanterns with ogee-shaped roofs and weathervanes. To the rear of the central block is a gabled wing. The entrance to the house is at the angle of the two wings. The interior contains an octagonal dining room, a hexagonal hall, and a drawing room with a Rococo ceiling. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "a curious house", while the architectural writers Figueirdo and Treuherz say it is "an appealingly quirky house".

1. Associated structures

There are two structures associated with the house that have been listed at Grade II. The gate piers date from the early 18th century, and the gates from the later part of the same century. The piers are in rusticated yellow sandstone ashlar. Each supports a trophy in Portland stone, consisting of an eagle supporting a shield with a boar's head crest. The gate piers and gates were moved to the house in the 1950s by Stanley Harrison, the owner of the house at that time. Immediately to the east of the hall is a two-storey timber-framed house, originating in the 16th century, with later additions and alterations. The timber-framing infill is a mixture of brick and wattle and daub.

1. See also

Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire East Listed buildings in Odd Rode

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

166 m

Mow Cop and Scholar Green railway station

Mow Cop and Scholar Green railway station was a station on the North Staffordshire Railway between Stoke-on-Trent and Congleton. It served the village of Mow Cop. The line was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 9 October 1848 but the station at Mow Cop did not open until the beginning of January 1849. It closed in 1964 and was immortalised that year in the song Slow Train by Flanders and Swann. The signal box survived in use until 2002, and is now preserved privately in the village.

Landmark Train

Odd Rode

Odd Rode is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It borders the Staffordshire parish of Kidsgrove. Of particular note in the area is Rode Hall, seat of the Wilbraham family.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Little Moreton Hall

Little Moreton Hall, also known as Old Moreton Hall, is a moated half-timbered manor house 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south-west of Congleton in Cheshire, England. The earliest parts of the house were built for the prosperous Cheshire landowner William Moreton in about 1504–08 and the remainder was constructed in stages by successive generations of the family until about 1610. The building is highly irregular, with three asymmetrical ranges forming a small, rectangular cobbled courtyard. A National Trust guidebook describes Little Moreton Hall as being "lifted straight from a fairy story, a gingerbread house." The house's top-heavy appearance, "like a stranded Noah's Ark", is due to the Long Gallery that runs the length of the south range's upper floor. The house remained in the possession of the Moreton family for almost 450 years, until ownership was transferred to the National Trust in 1938. Little Moreton Hall and its sandstone bridge across the moat are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building; the ground on which Little Moreton Hall stands is protected as a Scheduled Monument. The house has been fully restored and is open to the public from April to December each year. At its greatest extent, in the mid-16th century, the Little Moreton Hall estate occupied an area of 1,360 acres (550 ha); it contained a cornmill, orchards, gardens and an iron bloomery with water-powered hammers. The gardens lay abandoned until their 20th-century re-creation. As there were no surviving records of the layout of the original knot garden, it was replanted according to a pattern published in the 17th century.

Castle Historic Site

Great Moreton Hall

Great Moreton Hall is a former country house in Moreton cum Alcumlow near Congleton, in Cheshire, England, less than a mile (1.6 km) from its better-known near namesake Little Moreton Hall. Designed by Edward Blore, it was built in 1841 by Manchester businessman George Holland Ackers, to replace a large timber-framed building that had been the home of the Bellot family since 1602. Great Moreton Hall is built in two storeys, interspersed with three and four-storey towers. The service wing to the left of and adjoining the main part of the building is slightly lower than the rest of the structure. The main entrance is via a broad flight of steps from a porte-cochère, leading to the entrance lobby and a large central hall. A triple arcade at one end of the hall leads to the main staircase, opposite a hooded fireplace decorated with the arms of the Ackers family. The Library, Drawing Room, Billiard Room, Saloon, and the Great Hall are arranged symmetrically around the central hall. "Dark narrow internal corridors" allowed the servants, whose quarters were in the cellars, to reach all the rooms without having to pass through the central hall. Great Moreton Hall was designated a Grade II* listed building on 14 February 1967. Since 1931 the house has served first as a school and then as a hotel and conference centre. Great Moreton Hall has been in private ownership since 1992. HM Land Registry

Hotel Landmark