Boughton Hall is a former

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

in Boughton, to the east of the city of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. It is designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The original house on the site is thought to have been built before 1579. This house was destroyed by fire in 1643 during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. The house was then rebuilt with an E-shaped plan. The area to the left of the entrance porch was filled in about 1800. More alterations were made in the 18th century, a wing was added in the 19th century, and further alterations were made during the 20th century. It was owned by the Currie family from the 15th century and was occupied by Major-General

William Vesey Brownlow Major-General William Vesey Brownlow (12 June 1841 – 15 March 1928) was a British Army officer. Military career Brownlow was commissioned as an ensign the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot in April 1859. He served in the Anglo-Zulu War ...

in the late 19th century. Dr. John Joseph Tisdall and his wife, Emily Constance, were living at Boughton Hall at the times of their deaths in 1939. It was later used as a children's home, and then as an office for

Barnardo's Barnardo's is a global charity headquartered in Barkingside in the London Borough of Redbridge. It was founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each ye ...

. It was redeveloped as the focal point of a retirement village in 2008.

Architecture

Boughton Hall is constructed in brick with stone dressings, and has grey

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roofs. It is in two storeys, with a 19th-century wing to the left. The plan of the main part of the hall is E-shaped, with some infilling, plus an additional wing to the left. Its architectural style is Georgian. Three semicircular steps lead up to the central porch. The windows are

sashes A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...

. The interior contains a fireplace carrying the date 1655, which is surrounded with tiles depicting biblical scenes.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Chester Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Grade II listed houses Country houses in Cheshire Georgian architecture in Cheshire