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Dunham Massey is a
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
Metropolitan Borough of Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urm ...
, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green,
Dunham Woodhouses Dunham may refer to: Surname * Dunham (surname), includes a list of people with the surname Places * Dunham, Kentucky, United States * Dunham, Michigan, United States * Dunham, Ohio, United States * Dunham, Nottinghamshire, England * Dunham, Qu ...
and
Dunham Town Dunham Town is a village in the civil parish of Dunham Massey in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It was historically a part of Cheshire. History Dunham Town previously formed part of the parish of Bowdon, in ...
, along with Dunham Massey Hall and Park, formerly the home of the last Earl of Stamford and owned by the National Trust since 1976. Dunham Massey is in the historic county of
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, but since 1974 has been part of Trafford Metropolitan Borough; the nearest town is Altrincham. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 475. Dunham Massey's history is reflected in its 45 listed buildings. It was a regionally important place during the medieval period, and the seat of the Massey barons. The Georgian mansion with the remains of a castle on its grounds is a popular tourist attraction. There are two Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Dunham Massey: Dunham Park, located south of Dunham Town, and Brookheys Covert.


History

The Roman road between
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
and York passing between the Dunham Massey and Bowdon forms the boundary between the two. The name Dunham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ''dun'', meaning ''hill''. The Massey element of the name is a result of its ownership by the Massey family. The
manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...
of Dunham is recorded in the '' Domesday Book'' of 1086 as having belonged to Aelfward, a Saxon thegn, before the Norman Conquest and to
Hamo de Masci The first Hamon de Massey was the owner of the manors of Agden, Baguley, Bowdon, Dunham, Hale and Little Bollington after the Norman conquest of England (1066), taking over from the Saxon thegn Aelfward according to Domesday Book. His probabl ...
afterwards. The Barons de Masci also had control over the manors of Baguley, Bowdon, Hale, Partington, and Timperley. The suffix of "Massey" to the name Dunham reflects the manor's importance; Dunham was the
seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...
of the Masseys. The importance of Dunham is further exemplified by the former existence of two de Massey castles: Dunham Castle and
Watch Hill Castle Watch Hill Castle (also known as Yarwood Castle, Castle Hill, and Bowdon Watch) is a medieval motte-and-bailey on the boundary of Bowdon, Greater Manchester, Bowdon and Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester, England. It is a scheduled monument. The c ...
on the border with Bowdon; a third,
Ullerwood Castle Ullerwood Castle is an early medieval castle, possibly a shell keep, in Ringway, Manchester, England (). The castle is first referred to in 1173, in a document stating Hamo de Masci held the castles of Ullerwood and Dunham. There is no other c ...
, was near Hale. The Masseys remained lords of Dunham and its environs until the 14th century, when the family's male line became extinct. The Booth family inherited most of the Massey family land in 1409, with Dunham Massey remaining at the heart of the estate. By the Elizabeth period, Dunham Massey Castle had been demolished. Probably during the medieval period, Dunham Massey Hall became the home of the manorial lord, and a centre of power in the area. The
hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...
was rebuilt in 1616, leaving no remains of the old medieval manor house. A mill at Dunham was documented in 1353, although its present structure dates to the 1860s. It lies on the River Bollin, opposite Little Bollington. The first record of Dunham's deer park was also in 1353. The settlement at Dunham Woodhouse (named after an outlying lodge on the estate) dates from the 15th century. During the medieval period, the primary source of employment was agriculture, mainly arable farming. The
Warrington and Stockport Railway The Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway was a railway line that was in operation from 1 November 1853 to 7 July 1985. The railway was created by an act of parliament on 3 July 1851 to build a line between Timperley Junction on the Manc ...
was constructed through Dunham during 1853/54.
Dunham Massey railway station Dunham Massey railway station was a station in England, serving the Dunham Massey. The station opened in 1854 and closed in 1962. Construction and opening The Warrington and Altrincham Junction Railway (W&AJR) built its railway line from Warri ...
served the area between 1854 and its closure in 1962. Dunham grew as a result, the population increasing by 57.5% between 1851 and 1881. Otherwise, the industrial revolution had little effect on Dunham Massey, and it remained a predominantly agricultural area.


Dunham Massey Hall

The present
hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...
was built in 1616 by Sir George Booth, who received one of the first
baronetcies A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
to be created by James I in 1611; it was remodelled by John Norris for his descendant, George, 2nd Earl of Warrington between 1732 and 1740; it was further altered by John Hope towards the end of the 18th century and again by Joseph Compton Hall between 1905 and 1908. The hall,
stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
s, and the carriage house of Dunham Massey are all Grade I listed buildings, three of six such buildings in Trafford. The site is
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
ed and lies immediately west of the village of Dunham, with its deer park to the south. The hall was donated to the National Trust by Roger Grey, 10th and last Earl of Stamford in 1976. The hall was used as a military hospital during the First World War. Inside is a significant collection of Huguenot silver, the carving ''The Crucifixion'' by 17th-century wood carver Grinling Gibbons, and a white marble bust of the Emperor Hadrian; the head is antique, but the neck and shoulders are 18th-century; it was probably acquired by the George, Earl of Stamford and Warrington. The hall's collection of paintings include ''Allegory with Venus, Mars, Cupid and Time'' by Guercino; ''The Cascade at Terni'' by Louis Ducros; and portraits by William Beechey, Francis Cotes, Michael Dahl, A. R. Mengs, Sir Joshua Reynolds, George Romney,
Enoch Seeman Enoch Seeman the Younger ( – April 1745) was an English painter who was active during the first half of the Georgian era. He was born into a family of painters in Danzig. Career Seeman was brought to London from Danzig by his father, also E ...
, and Zoffany. George Harry, Earl of Stamford and Warrington removed a selection of paintings to Enville Hall in the late-1850s, and it was not until Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford succeeded as Earl, that some were rebought by the family after sales in 1929 and 1931. The deer park is the only surviving medieval park in Trafford or the surrounding area. The hall and grounds are open to the public and are a popular tourist attraction, with 310,093 visitors in 2018.


Governance

Dunham Massey was historically in the ecclesiastical parish of Bowdon and the county of Cheshire. The
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of Dunham Massey was created in 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894, and has its own parish council. Dunham Massey became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in 1974 upon the borough's creation, but was previously in
Bucklow Rural District Bucklow Rural District was, from 1894 to 1974, a local government district in the north of the administrative county of Cheshire, England. Following the Local Government Act 1972, this rural district was split between the new Greater Manchester ...
. The village is part of the Bowdon
electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
. The Councillors for Bowdon Ward are Sean Anstee, Karen Barclay, and Michael Hyman, all members of the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. Dunham Massey is also a part of the Altrincham and Sale West constituency. Since the formation of the Altrincham and Sale West constituency in 1997, it has been represented in the House of Commons by the Conservative MP, Graham Brady.


Geography

Dunham Massey lies to the east of Warburton, and to the west of Bowdon, with Altrincham approximately to the northeast. The landscape is predominantly flat, with some mossland. Dunham Park occupies of the area. The
Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
running from
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
to York forms the boundary between Dunham and Bowdon. The River Bollin runs to the south, with the Bridgewater Canal running through the area. The local geology is lower
keuper marl Keuper marl is a former and now deprecated term for multiple layers of mudstone and siltstone of Triassic age which occur beneath parts of the English Midlands and neighbouring areas e.g. Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Devon, eastern Worcestershire ...
, with a ridge of sand and gravel running from Dunham to Warburton.


Demography

At the
2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, Dunham Massey had a total population of 475. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. The average household size was 2.36. According to the census, 0.01% were unemployed and 19.24% were economically inactive. 17.89% of the population were under the age of 16, and 9.89% were aged 75 and over; the mean age of the residents of Dunham Massey was 43.71. 75.79% of residents described their health as 'good'.


Population change


Landmarks


Site of Special Scientific Interest

Brookheys Covert Brookheys Covert is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
in the Dunham Park Estate (). The site is a semi-natural wood consisting mainly of ash, birch, and rowan, with a wetland habitat and several marl pits, which have flooded to form ponds. The reserve spans and is managed by the Dunham Massey Estates. Brookheys Covert provides a habitat for many animals, including foxes, rabbits, squirrels, and 57 species of bird. Dunham Park Dunham Park covers an area of and is part of the Dunham Park Estate, run by the National Trust (). The park is mostly "pasture-woodland or park-woodland" and has been since the Middle Ages. Many of the oak trees, which make up the larger part of the woodland, date back to the 17th century. Dunham Park is the only place in the northwest of England with such a concentration of old trees, and one of only a few remaining in England, making it a site of national importance. The park supports a range of animals, including fallow deer and over 500 species of insect.


Grade II listed buildings

Dunham Massey has many grade II listed buildings; among the most striking is the 18th century sandstone obelisk at the end of the north vista from Dunham Massey Hall. Tradition has it that it marks the burial site of a race horse. There are many listed residences in Dunham Massey, most dating from the 18th or early-19th century, and many feature Flemish bond brickwork and slate roofs. They include: Dunham Massey Lodge, on Dunham Road; Willow Cottage; numbers 1 and 2 Barns Lane; number 1 Orchard View; The Hollies, on Station Road; numbers 1, 3 and 4 Woodhouse Lane; Big Tree Cottages, on Woodhouse Lane. Agden View, also on Woodhouse Lane, dates from 1725 and has both
garden wall bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...
and Flemish bond brickwork. Big Tree House, on Charcoal Road, dates from the mid-18th century and features English bond brickwork. Yew Tree Cottage and Lime Tree Cottage are also on Charcoal Lane; both houses date to the 17th century and exhibit garden wall bond brickwork with slate roofs. Ivy House, on Woodhouse Lane, was built in the early 18th century. Kitchen Garden cottage was built in 1702. Rose Cottage and Farm Cottage are late-18th or early-19th century. The Meadows, on School Lane, was built in the 17th century and features garden wall bond brickwork and a thatched roof. The farm buildings of Home Farm, including its dovecote, were built in the early-19th century, and feature Flemish bond brickwork. Sinderland House, also dating from the early-19th century, is another of Dunham Massey's listed farmhouses. Manor Farmhouse, on Station Road, was built by George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington; the building dates from the mid-18th century and features both Flemish and garden wall bond brickwork. The farmhouse on Station Road was built in 1752. The barn on Woodhouse Lane dates from the early 18th century and features garden wall bond brickwork, a slate roof, and upper cruck frames. Dog Farmhouse, also on Woodhouse Lane, was built in the early 19th century; however it may have been an adaptation of an earlier, possibly 18th-century, farmhouse. Dunham School was built in 1759, with additions in 1860 and the 20th century. Above the door is an engraved panel reading "This School was Erected in 1759 For the Benefit of the Township of Dunham Massey. According to the Will of Thomas Walton Gent". The school is now used as the parish hall. The nearby Dunham School Bridge, over the Bridgewater Canal, was built in 1776 by John Gilbert, who also built the aqueduct for the Bridgewater Canal over the River Bollin, which was opened in 1776. The other listed bridge, Brick Kiln Lane Bridge, was also built in the 18th century. Bollington watermill, constructed in the 1860s, has an
undershot A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
waterwheel. There are a number of listed structures in the grounds of Dunham Massey Hall, including the 1720 wellhouse that supplied water to the hall until the 1860s, and the early-18th-century ornamental sundial in front of the hall, depicting a black slave clad in leaves, carrying the sundial above his head. The stable buildings, the slaughterhouse, the deer house, the orangery, and an
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
shelter to the west of the hall, all date from the 17th or 18th century. Barn Cottages date from at least 1751. The cottages were originally a single barn, which was converted in the 19th century. Other grade II listed structures in the grounds of the hall include: the lakeside wall (18th century); two small piers south of the garden forecourt (18th century); a pier north west of the garden forecourt (18th century); the gateway opposite the kitchen (1750); the piers at the south of forecourt garden topped with lions (18th century); and an obelisk erected by George, 2nd Earl of Warrington, in 1714 in memory of his mother. Near the hall there is a Grade II* listed sawmill, probably built in 1616.


See also

* Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester * Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester *
Listed buildings in Dunham Massey Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It contains 48 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade I, the ...


References


External links


Dunham Massey at the National Trust site
{{authority control Civil parishes in Greater Manchester Geography of Trafford