Rode Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rode Hall |
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The hall, from the north west,
across Rode Pool |
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| Location | Odd Rode, Cheshire, near Stoke-on-Trent, England |
| OS grid reference | SJ 81890 57336 |
| Built | c.1700 (original house) 1752 (extension) |
| Built for | Randle Wilbraham Randle Wilbraham III |
| Architect | Hiorne brothers (1752 extension) Lewis Wyatt (interiors) |
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Listed Building – Grade II*
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| Designated | 6 June 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1138746 |
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Rode Hall is a beautiful old country house in Cheshire, England. It's a Georgian style home, which means it was built a long time ago, around the 1700s. This grand house has been the home of the Wilbraham family for many generations.
The Wilbraham family bought the land and an older wooden house in 1669. They later built a new brick house between 1700 and 1708. Another part was added in 1752, and the two parts were joined together around 1800 to create the Rode Hall we see today.
Over the years, the house has been changed and updated many times. Inside, you can find amazing collections of old paintings, furniture, and delicate porcelain. Rode Hall is considered a very important historical building. It is surrounded by lovely parkland and gardens. These gardens are also very special and are listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
You can also find interesting old structures on the property, like a secret grotto, an ice house (used to store ice before refrigerators!), and a tall, decorative obelisk. The Wilbraham family still lives at Rode Hall. You can visit the house and gardens from April to September to explore this historic place.
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History of Rode Hall
The land where Rode Hall stands has a long history. It belonged to the Rode family since at least the 1300s. In 1669, Roger Wilbraham bought the estate for £2,400. The Wilbraham family was well-known in the area. They were descendants of Sir Richard de Wilburgham, who was the Sheriff of Cheshire in the 1200s.
The estate stayed in the Wilbraham family through the male line until 1900. Then, General Sir Richard Wilbraham passed it to his daughter, Katherine. Her husband, George Baker, took on the Wilbraham name. In 1910, George also inherited the Baker baronetcy, a special title.
Rode Hall is actually made up of two houses that were once separate. The older house was built for Randle Wilbraham in the early 1700s. It replaced an even older wooden house. The second house was built in 1752 for his grandson, Randle Wilbraham III, who was a famous lawyer.
The house has been updated many times. In the early 1800s, a new section was built to connect the two houses. In 1927, the front entrance was given a grand portico. Rode Hall first opened to the public in 1980. Since then, a lot of work has been done to restore it, including fixing a problem with dry rot in the 1980s. In 1985, Rode Hall was given a special Grade II* listing. This means it's a very important building with a lot of historical value. Only about 5.5% of listed buildings have this high rating!
Architecture and Design
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Outside the House
The older part of Rode Hall is made of brick and has seven sections, spread over two floors. It has parts that stick out at each end. The main entrance in the middle is framed by flat, decorative columns. The roof is sloped, with a small, round tower in the center that has a little dome on top.
The newer part of the house was built in 1752 by architects William and David Hiorne. It has five sections. A large section was added around 1800 to connect it to the older building. In 1927, a central porch with a flat roof and four columns was added to the front. The windows on the ground floor are different from the French windows on the first floor, which have iron balconies. The very top floor has smaller windows.
The back of the house has four sections. It features a large window on the first floor and a central door. The whole house is built with red brick. Until 1926, the brick was covered with a smooth coating.
People have had different opinions about the design of Rode Hall. Some have called it "large, irregular, and rather plain." Others have described it as a "substantial and elegant Georgian house" with a "complex building history." In the early 1800s, one writer noted that the house was "large and handsome."
Inside the House
The main living areas for the family are in the part of the house built in 1752. The staircase hall is the only room in this section that still looks like it did when it was first built in the Georgian era. The fancy plaster ceiling is thought to be the work of Thomas Farnolls Pritchard, a famous architect.
The library faces the gardens. This room was updated in the early 1800s and used to be the family's dining room. It has beautiful mahogany bookshelves from the 1800s. The white marble fireplace is decorated with the family's coat of arms.
Connecting the library to other rooms is the ante-room. This octagonal room has furniture made especially for the family in the late 1700s. It also has copies of famous paintings by Raphael.
The dining room, which was once the library, was designed by Lewis Wyatt around 1808. He made the room longer and added a curved section at one end. The room has decorative plasterwork on the ceiling and walls. It features gilded leaves and vines on the ceiling. There are also columns made to look like marble and a black marble fireplace. The dining room has original furniture made by Gillows of Lancaster and London, a famous English company. You can see a special dinner set from 1809 on display here.
Gardens and Grounds
The park and gardens at Rode Hall cover 10 acres (about 4 hectares). They are listed as important historical gardens. While there are old records from the 1600s mentioning "orchards, gardens and courts," we don't have many details until 1790. That's when a famous gardener named Humphry Repton was asked to design the grounds.
Repton's plans were put into action in 1803. A new driveway was built, and two artificial lakes were created. The smaller one is called Stew Pond, and the larger one, Rode Pool, is about a mile long. A "Wild Garden" was also laid out.
The current owners still take care of the gardens. In 2007, an "Italian Garden" was added, with olive and cypress trees. This garden was inspired by a beautiful English-style garden in Italy.
Kitchen Garden
The 2-acre (1 hectare) walled kitchen garden was built in the early 1700s. Its purpose was to grow fruits and vegetables for the estate. A cottage for the head gardener from the Victorian era is built into the southern wall.
Along the west wall, there's a private path called the Colonel's Walk. The family used this path to go to church without walking through the kitchen garden. You can still see traces of old chimneys built into the wall. These chimneys helped keep the fruit trees warm so they could grow all year round. One of these chimneys has been restored. The garden is still used today to grow many different kinds of vegetables and fruits. Some of these are used to make jams and chutneys sold in the hall's tearooms.
Other Structures in the Grounds
There are four other important structures in the grounds around Rode Hall. They are all listed as Grade II historic buildings, meaning they are "nationally important and of special interest."
- The Grotto: This cave-like structure is made of brick and stone. It was built in the 1700s or 1800s. Inside, it has a tunnel decorated with plasterwork and shells.
- The Ice House: This building is made of brick and covered with earth. A tunnel leads into a round room with a domed roof. It was used to store ice collected in winter.
- The Obelisk: This tall, pointed stone monument stands by the larger lake. It's made of sandstone and has two parts, with the top part added later. It used to be in a nearby village called Kent Green.
- The Stable Block: This building was constructed in 1804. It's made of red brick, similar to the main house. It used to have open archways, but many have been filled in. The roof has a small, octagonal tower with a dome.
Mow Cop Castle
Mow Cop Castle is a decorative castle-like building, called a folly, located two miles from Rode Hall. It was built in 1754 by Randle Wilbraham III and designed by the Hiorne brothers, who also worked on Rode Hall. It was built to make the view from the hall even more beautiful. The Wilbraham family often used it as a summer house and for picnics.
The "castle" fell into disrepair several times but was restored. The Wilbraham family sold it in 1923. Mow Cop Castle is also famous as the birthplace of Primitive Methodism, a Christian movement, after a large outdoor meeting was held there in 1807.
Rode Hall Today
Rode Hall is still owned and lived in by the Wilbraham family. Currently, Sir Richard Baker Wilbraham and his wife, Lady Anne, live there. You can visit the house and gardens from April to September, though there is an entrance fee.
The tearooms at Rode Hall are located in the 1752 part of the house. They use and sell fresh produce from the kitchen garden. A farmers' market is also held next to the kitchen garden every month.
Every August, the Just So Festival, a family-friendly event, takes place on the estate grounds.
See also
- Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire East
- Listed buildings in Odd Rode
