Brankelow Cottage, also known as Brankelow Folly and Brankelow House, is a folly on the Combermere Abbey estate in Cheshire, England. It is listed at grade II. [1] Dating from 1797, it was originally a model dairy and later a gamekeeper's cottage with attached kennels. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner and co-authors as a "charming eye-catcher", [2] the folly is ornamented with battlements, pinnacles, pilasters, arrowslits, and fancy brickwork.
The cottage takes its name from a settlement whose name is first attested in around 1130 (as copied in a manuscript of 1479), as Bronkelawa. Other early spellings are Brankelow (1133, in an eighteenth-century copy), Bronchelau (twelfth-century), and Branchehillaue (1540). The name also once appeared in a folk-etymologised doublet form Branch of Wood (attested in 1831). The name has been though to have originated as the Common Brittonic words corresponding to modern Welsh bronn ("breast, hill") and coed ("wood"). Thus it once meant "hill of the wood". To this name was then added the Old English word hlǣw ("hill, mound"), by English-speakers who no longer understood the Brittonic name. [3] However, the place-name scholars Richard Coates and Andrew Breeze characterise this interpretation of the first parts of Brankelow as "very uncertain". [4] : 280
Brankelow Cottage was built in 1797 for Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton (c. 1739–1809). The architect is believed to be John Webb (1754–1828), who was also been suggested to have been the landscape designer used when Cotton landscaped Combermere Park in 1795–97. It was originally a model dairy. [5] [6] The building also contained a sitting room used in summer, whose decorations were done by the Cotton family's daughters. [5] It was subsequently used as a gamekeeper's cottage; the pavilions to each end were formerly used as dog kennels. Now, it is a folly. [1] [2] [5] [7]
Brankelow Cottage stands at SJ581442 on the west side of Comber Mere, on the rise approximately 300 metres southeast of the low-lying area of Brankelow Moss, within Combermere Park. It is around 500 metres across the lake from the former abbey, which lies east, and 500 metres from the memorial obelisk to Stapleton Cotton, Viscount Combermere. [1] [5] Combermere Park is privately owned, and there is no public access. [8]
The building is in red brick with ashlar dressings under a slate roof. It is cross-shaped in plan, with both single- and two-storey portions. The main (lake-facing) front has a single storey with seven symmetrical bays, a central three-bay projection to the front, and pavilions to each end. The bays of the main face are separated by pilasters topped with stone finials, and a parapet with battlements surmounts the face; there are pinnacles at the corners. The windows to the main face have pointed arches with Tudor-style hood moulds over them, and the pavilions have arrowslits and heart-shaped ornaments. Another central three-bay projection stands to the rear, which has two storeys. To each side of the rear projection are extensions dating from the 20th century, with a circular quadrant plan. [1] The building is further ornamented with fancy brickwork. [7] The interior has a single elliptical room. [2]
Nikolaus Pevsner and co-authors describe the building as a "charming eyecatcher". [2] Historic England describes it as "the main eyecatcher at Combermere". [5]
Marbury is a small village located at SJ560457 in the civil parish of Marbury and District, formerly Marbury cum Quoisley, within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is administered jointly with the adjacent civil parishes of Norbury and Wirswall. The village lies around 3 miles (5 km) north east of Whitchurch in Shropshire and 7 miles (11 km) south west of Nantwich in Cheshire. Nearby villages include Malpas, No Man's Heath, Norbury, Wirswall and Wrenbury. The civil parish bordered Shropshire and covers 2,168 acres (877 ha); it also contains the small settlements of Hollins Lane, Marley Green and Quoisley, as well as parts of Hollyhurst and Willeymoor. The total population was just under 250 in 2001, and – combined with Wirswall – 352 in 2011.
Combermere Abbey is a former monastery, later a country house, near Burleydam, between Nantwich, Cheshire and Whitchurch in Shropshire, England, located within Cheshire and near the border with Shropshire. Initially Savigniac and later Cistercian, the abbey was founded in the 1130s by Hugh Malbank, Baron of Nantwich, and was also associated with Ranulf de Gernons, Earl of Chester. The abbey initially flourished, but by 1275 was sufficiently deeply in debt to be removed from the abbot's management. From that date until its dissolution in 1538, it was frequently in royal custody, and acquired a reputation for poor discipline and violent disputes with both lay people and other abbeys. It was the third largest monastic establishment in Cheshire, based on net income in 1535.
Shotwick House is a large house in Great Saughall, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Belmont Hall is a country house one mile (1.6 km) to the northwest of the village of Great Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The house stands to the north of the A559 road. Since 1977 it has been occupied by Cransley School.
The Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire, excluding those in the city of Chester, total around 80. Almost half of these are churches that are contained in a separate list.
Crabwall Manor is a former country house, later a hotel, in the village of Mollington, Cheshire, England. The present building dates from the 18th century. It replaced an early 17th-century house built for the Gamul family. The house was originally a "modest brick cottage" and it was refaced in the early 19th century. Figueirdo and Treuherz comment that this give it "the appearance of a toy fort". The interior was remodelled in about 1900. It has since been converted into a hotel, with extensions added in 1987. It is constructed in orange and yellow brick with red sandstone dressings. The roof is in Welsh slate and there are three brick chimneys. The building is in two storeys, with an entrance front of three bays. At the corners are octagonal towers. The central bay protrudes and forms a two-storey porch; it is supported by diagonal buttresses. The tops of the porch and towers are crenellated. The building is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
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.
A total of 21 buildings and other structures in the English civil parish of Dodcott cum Wilkesley have been officially designated as listed buildings for their "special architectural and historic interest". Dodcott cum Wilkesley is in the Cheshire East division of the ceremonial county of Cheshire, situated on the Cheshire Plain at the border with Shropshire. The civil parish is predominantly rural, with many scattered minor settlements, the largest of which is the small village of Burleydam. One of the listed buildings is classified by English Heritage as being in grade I, meaning "of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important" ; two are in grade II* and the remainder in grade II.
Davenham is a civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester, England. It contains 28 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Other than the village of Davenham, the parish is rural, and most of the buildings in the list are domestic or related to farming. Running through the parish are the Trent and Mersey Canal, the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation, and the West Coast Main Line; there are structures relating to all these in the list. The other listed buildings are the village church and associated structures, two public houses, and a memorial drinking fountain.
Burton is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Duddon and Burton, in Cheshire West and Chester, England. It contains two buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. These consist of a country house, and an associated wall and gateway.
There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the unitary authority of Cheshire East.
There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester.
There are over 9,000 Grade I listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the unitary authority of Cheshire East.
Saughall is a former civil parish now in the parishes of Saughall and Shotwick Park, Puddington and the unparished area of Chester, in Cheshire West and Chester, England. It contains eleven buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings, all of which are listed at Grade II. This grade is the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish contains the village of Saughall, and is otherwise rural. Most of the listed buildings are houses and associated structures. The others include a former inn, a former windmill, a church, and two guideposts.
Cranage is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains 12 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, one is listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II. Apart from the village of Cranage, and some residential areas, the parish is rural. Most of the listed buildings are houses and cottages, or farmhouses and farm buildings. The other listed buildings are a former country house, a former vicarage, a school, a bridge, and a milepost.
Haughton is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains ten buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings, all of which are at Grade II. This grade is the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". Apart from the village of Haughton, the parish is entirely rural. The listed buildings consist of houses and farms, and structures associated with them, and a public house. Four of the buildings date from the 17th century, and contain timber framing.
Mottram St Andrew is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains 25 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, three are listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II. Apart from the village of Mottram St Andrew, the parish is rural. The listed buildings in the parish consists of country houses, one converted into a hotel, farmhouses, farm buildings, other houses and cottages, and a medieval cross.
Peover Superior is a former civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contained 29 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. Of these, two are listed at Grade I, the highest grade, one is listed at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II. The parish was mainly rural, and most of the listed buildings are houses of various sizes, farmhouses, cottages, and associated structures. The other listed buildings include a church with associated structures, a former water mill, a railway viaduct, and a mile post.
Tabley Superior is a civil parish in Cheshire East, England. It contains nine buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings, all of which are listed at Grade II. This grade is the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish is rural, and contains the intersection of the M6 motorway and the A556 road. The listed buildings consist of farm houses and buildings, houses and cottages, a country house, two lodges, and a church.
Astle Hall is a former country house located near Chelford, Cheshire in the North West of England. The hall has been demolished; its parkland and a lodge survive.
