Daresbury Hall

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Daresbury Hall
Cheshire

Daresbury Hall, before the fire
Location
Grid reference: SJ58438252
Location: 53°20’17"N, 2°37’33"W
Village: Daresbury
History
Built 1759
For: George Heron
Country house
Information
Condition: Fire-damaged

Daresbury Hall is a Georgian country house in the village of Daresbury, in northern Cheshire. It was built in 1759 for George Heron.[1] It is a Grade II listed building.[2]

The house is built in the Georgian style in brown brick with stone dressings, and has a slate roof.[2] It has three storeys and seven bays with a stone plinth and stone bands between the storeys. Framing the middle three bays are rusticated pilasters, and similar quoins at the corners. All the windows are sash windows. Along the top of the house is a plain parapet, with a pediment above the central three bays.[2]

History

The house was built in 1759 for George Heron.[1] It descended in the Heron family until 1850, when it became the property of Samuel Beckett Chadwick. By 1892 it had been acquired by Sir Gilbert Greenall, later Baron Daresbury.

During the Second World War, Daresbury Hall was used as a military hospital and for some years from 1955 it served as a residential home for handicapped people, run by the Spastic Society, a charity now known as Scope.[3]

The house became semi-derelict after being bought by a millionaire who died before restoration could take place.

In April 2015, a huge cannabis farm containing six hundred plants with an estimated street value of £750,000 was discovered at the former county mansion in an annex at the estate.[4]

In 2016 there were plans to partly demolish and convert the house but in June of that year the empty building was badly damaged by fire.[5][6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 de Figueiredo, Peter; Treuherz, Julian (1988), Cheshire Country Houses, Chichester: Phillimore, p. 227, ISBN 0-85033-655-4 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 National Heritage List 1330337: Daresbury Hall
  3. Daresbury Parish Plan 2007: Daresbury Parish Council, page 7
  4. Huge cannabis haul found at Cheshire mansion, ITV (published 28 April 2015), http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2015-04-28/huge-cannabis-haul-found-at-cheshire-mansion/, retrieved 30 June 2016 
  5. "Fire crews tackle huge blaze at historic abandoned stately home". Liverpool Echo. http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/fire-crews-tackle-huge-blaze-11525974. Retrieved 27 June 2016. 
  6. Parry, Josh, "Daresbury Hall drone footage reveals shocking scale of fire damage", Liverpool Echo, 28 June 2016, http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/daresbury-hall-drone-footage-reveals-11533843, retrieved 30 June 2016