Ramsdell Hall is a country house in the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
of
Odd Rode
Odd Rode is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It borders the Staffordshire parish of Kidsgrove, and includes the settlements of:
* Scholar Green
Scholar Green () is a ...
in
Cheshire, England, overlooking the
Macclesfield Canal. It was built in two phases during the 18th century, and is still in private ownership.
History
The house was built by William Lowndes in about 1760 in two phases. The central block was built in the middle of the century, and the wings were added later, probably in about 1768. It is possible that the architect for both phases was William Baker.
The house continues to be in private ownership.
Architecture
Ramsdell Hall is constructed in brick with
ashlar dressings and a
slate roof. It consists of a three-storey central block, with single-storey wings ending in two-storey
pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
s. The central block has an L-shaped plan. The garden front of the central block is symmetrical and has three
bays. The central bay has
Venetian windows in the ground and middle floors, and a three-light window in the top floor. The lateral bays have
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 ...
s rising through all three storeys. Above the top floor windows is a
cornice, with a
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
above the window in the central bay. Over this is a brick
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'). ...
with ball
finials. The side wings each have three bays with round-arched windows. The central bay on each side projects slightly, with pilasters and an open pediment. The pavilions also project slightly, and have Venetian windows in the lower floor, with
lunette windows in the
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 above. The pavilions are surmounted by circular lanterns with
ogee
An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinat ...
-shaped roofs and
weathervane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
s. To the rear of the central block is a gabled wing.
The entrance to the house is at the angle of the two wings.
The interior contains an octagonal dining room, a hexagonal hall, and a drawing room with a
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
ceiling.
[ The house is recorded 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, a ...
as a designated 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 architectural historian ]Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
describes it as "a curious house",[ while the architectural writers Figueirdo and Treuherz say it is "an appealingly quirky house".][
]
Associated structures
There are two structures associated with the house that have been listed at Grade II. The gate piers Piers may refer to:
* Pier, a raised structure over a body of water
* Pier (architecture), an architectural support
* Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name)
* Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
date from the early 18th century, and the gates from the later part of the same century. The piers are in rusticated yellow 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 ...
ashlar.[ Each supports a trophy in Portland stone, consisting of an eagle supporting a shield with a boar's head crest.][ Immediately to the east of the hall is a two-storey ]timber-framed
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...
house, originating in the 16th century, with later additions and alterations. The timber-framing infill
In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban ma ...
is a mixture of brick and wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
.
See also
*
* Listed buildings in Odd Rode
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Houses completed in 1768
Country houses in Cheshire
Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire
Grade II* listed houses
1768 establishments in Great Britain