Oakley Hall, Staffordshire

Oakley hall Oakley Hall is an early 18th century 14,929 sf mansion house at

Mucklestone Mucklestone is a small village in Staffordshire, England. Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Loggerheads. It is about nine miles (14 km) northwest of Eccleshall, and four and a half miles northeast of Market Dr ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

near to the

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

town of

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and electoral ward in the north of Shropshire, England, close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is on the River Tern, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" (c. 1868) and earlier simply as "Dray ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building 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 ...

. The Chetwode family who from about the 13th century owned the

Chetwode Manor Chetwode is a village and civil parish about southwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. The parish is bounded to the southwest and southeast by a brook called The Birne, which here also forms part of the county ...

estate in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

also held the manor of Oakley. There was a substantial manor house at Oakley in the 16th century. In about 1710 Sir John Chetwode, Baronet, (

High Sheriff of Staffordshire This is a list of the sheriffs and high sheriffs of Staffordshire. The sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. The sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities ass ...

in 1691 and 1698) replaced the old house with a two-storey mansion. The house is built of brick on a sandstone plinth with a balustraded entrance front of eleven bays, the central three of which were pedimented. Two sphinx-like statues with female heads flank the main entrance. The 1881 census discloses the 6th Baronet and his family in residence with a staff of fifteen servants. The Chetwodes sold the estate in 1919. It was already by then in the family of Cyril Charles Dennis, High Sheriff of Staffordshire (wife Mary Scott Dennis ee Macfie who kept 21 members of staff and was responsible for putting ventral heating throughout the hall. He had sons: Ian and Lance (grandsons: Hon Professor Dr Roger L H Dennis BA, PhD, DSc (Dunelm) FLS, FRSB, FRSG, FRES nternationally recognised butterfly biologistand Cyril T H Dennis Esq.,BSc, BA, MA, VetMB, MRCVS (Camb) eterinary Surgeon and Oriental ceramics expert, daughters Mary Norman_landing_and_being_bestowed_lands_by_William_I_of_England.html" "title="Norman_Conquest.html" ;"title="randson: Martin Peel Esq. and Primrose) until 1948 when he retired to the dower house, Park House Villa in the grounds where he died in 1964). The family holds two coats of Arms, the Dennis Family reflecting their link with the Norman Conquest">Norman landing and being bestowed lands by William I of England">William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

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