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Gawsworth Old Hall

Country houses in CheshireGardens in CheshireGrade II* listed parks and gardens in CheshireGrade I listed buildings in CheshireGrade I listed houses
Historic house museums in CheshireTheatres in CheshireTimber framed buildings in CheshireUse British English from February 2023
Gawsworth Old Hall
Gawsworth Old Hall

Gawsworth Old Hall is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England. It is a timber-framed house in the Cheshire black-and-white style. The present house was built between 1480 and 1600, replacing an earlier Norman house. It was probably built as a courtyard house enclosing a quadrangle, but much of it has been demolished, leaving the house with a U-shaped plan. Notable residents have included Mary Fitton, perhaps the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets, and Samuel "Maggoty" Johnson, a playwright described as the last professional jester in England, whose grave is nearby in Maggoty Wood, a small National Trust woodland. In 1712 a dispute about the ownership of the Gawsworth estate culminated in a celebrated duel, in which both the combatants were killed. The hall is surrounded by formal gardens and parkland, which once comprised an Elizabethan pleasure garden and, possibly, a tilting ground for jousting. The grounds are listed Grade II*, and contain four Grade II listed buildings, including the gatehouse, gatepiers, and garden walls. The hall and grounds are open to the public at advertised times, and events are organised. During the summer months a series of concerts and other entertainment is arranged in an open-air theatre near the hall.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Gawsworth Old Hall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Gawsworth Old Hall
Church Lane,

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N 53.2238 ° E -2.1638 °
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Church Lane
SK11 9RJ , Gawsworth
England, United Kingdom
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Gawsworth Old Hall
Gawsworth Old Hall
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Gawsworth New Hall
Gawsworth New Hall

Gawsworth New Hall is a country house in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.The house was begun by Lord Mohun in 1707 but abandoned after he was killed in a duel with the Duke of Hamilton in 1712. Later additions and alterations were made including those to the designs of Sir Hubert Worthington in 1914. Late-19th-century residents of the house included William Taylor Birchenough, a Macclesfield silk manufacturer and partner in the Macclesfield firm John Birchenough & Son, who was the brother of Sir Henry Birchenough. W.T. Birchenough lived in the house with his wife Jane Birchenough, daughter of Richard Peacock MP and their four children. His youngest son, also William Taylor Birchenough, was a pioneering aviator and test pilot. The house is built in red brick with a stone slate roof. It has two storeys and attic with an E-shaped plan. The garden front has 16 bays. In the 1960s the hall was given over to Cheshire County Council and became a home for elderly women who were either physically, or mentally disabled. There was a large staff of carers, chefs, domestics and gardeners who looked after the residents and the grounds. In the 1980s it also took in elderly men too. A lot of the local people who lived in Gawsworth village worked at the hall. In the mid-1980s the hall was closed and put up for sale, and after being sold the hall was turned into apartments.