Burton Manor is a former
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
in the village of
Burton,
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 recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
as a designated 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 ...
.
At one time an adult education college, this is now closed, but the walled garden is open to the public and is administered by the Friends of Burton Manor Gardens.
History
The house was built around 1805 for Richard Congreve and remodelled in 1904 by
Sir Charles Nicholson for Henry Neville Gladstone, son of
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
. An
orangery
An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...
was added in 1910 to a design by
Arthur Beresford Pite.
[ Formerly a private house, it became an ]adult education
Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...
college with accommodation for resident students, operated by Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...
.It closed as an adult educational college in March 2011. Since its closure the organisation known as the Friends of Burton Manor has been formed to restore the manor and its associated buildings.[ The walled garden is open to the public and is maintained by the Friends of Burton Manor Gardens.
]
Architecture
The house is built in ashlar
Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
and hammer-dressed red sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
with a roof of green 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 ...
s. The chimney stacks are tall and ornate, built of stone and brick. The plan of the building is quadrangular with a central courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...
.[ The authors of the '' Buildings of England'' series consider it to be a "classical design of no great force" and state that its most attractive feature is the small inner courtyard.
]
External features
The former coach house is listed at Grade II, as are the boundary walls, gate piers and library.
Garden
The garden was designed in the early 20th century as a formal garden. It was designed by T. H. Mawson with a pool, lawns, and terraces with views over extensive parkland. It is listed Grade II on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England
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. The ice house in the garden is listed at Grade II, and is a
.
*{{Citation , last = de Figueiredo , first = Peter , last2 = Treuherz , first2 = Julian , year = 1988 , title = Cheshire Country Houses , publication-place = Chichester , publisher = Phillimore , pages
, isbn = 0-85033-655-4 , url = https://archive.org/details/cheshirecountryh0000defi/page/220