Oakfield Manor was originally a

country house 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 town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Upton-by-Chester Upton-by-Chester is a civil parish and a large suburb on the outskirts of Chester, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes the villages of Upton and Upton Heath. Hist ...

, near

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 ...

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 ...

, England. Since the 1930s it has been the headquarters of

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo is operate ...

. The house and its stables are recorded separately 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, an ...

as designated Grade II

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The house was built in about 1885 for B. Chaffers Roberts, and designed by

Edward Ould Edward Augustus Lyle Ould (1852–1909) was an English architect. Ould was a son of the rector of Tattenhall, Cheshire. He became a pupil of the Chester architect John Douglas and in 1886 he joined in partnership with the Liverpool architect G ...

. The stables are dated 1886, and were probably also designed by Ould. The house was extended in 1892 for the same client by Harry Beswick, and some alterations have been made during the 20th century. In 1930

George Mottershead George Saul Mottershead (12 June 1894 – 5 May 1978) was the founder of Chester Zoo. Early life Mottershead was born in Sale Moor, Manchester. His father Albert Mottershead was a botanist and nurseryman. He had two brothers Stanley Saul and ...

bought the house and estate for £3,500 (), and started the development of Chester Zoo. While the house was used for administration, the west wing of the stables was used to house lions. As the zoo has grown, the house has been retained and converted for use as a business, educational and wedding venue, and the west wing of the stables for storage.

Architecture

House

Oakfield Manor is constructed in red

Ruabon brick Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church ...

with blue-brick

diapering Diaper is any of a wide range of decorative patterns used in a variety of works of art, such as stained glass, heraldic shields, architecture, and silverwork. Its chief use is in the enlivening of plain surfaces. Etymology For the full etymolog ...

, and red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

dressings. It is roofed with Welsh

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 rock. ...

. There are four brick chimney stacks with Tudor-style decoration. The house is in two and 2½ storeys, with a west front of four bays, and a south front with three projecting bays with differing details. The architectural features include two-storey canted

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...

s with a

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

and

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

s, differently shaped

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, and a projecting porch with a

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

in the form of a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

. Most of the windows have

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s and transoms. Inside the house is much wood panelling and some stained glass in the windows.

Stables

These are constructed in orange brick with dressings in red brick and buff sandstone. It is roofed with red tiles. The building is in one and two storeys, with a frontage of five bays. In the centre is an archway, with a datestone flanked by plaques with horses' heads. To the right of the archway is a circular stair

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

surmounted by a hexagonal spire. On the base of the turret are marks of lions' claws.

References

External links

Chester Zoo
{{authority control Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Grade II listed houses Country houses in Cheshire Zoos in England Tourist attractions in Cheshire Buildings and structures in Chester