Somerford Park is situated off the

A54 road A54 may refer to: Roads * A54 road (England), a road connecting Chester and Buxton * A54 motorway (France), a road connecting Salon-de-Provence and Nîmes * A54 motorway (Italy), a ring road around Pavia * A-54 freeway (Spain), a road connectin ...

midway between

Congleton Congleton is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 28,497 and the built-up area ha ...

and

Holmes Chapel Holmes Chapel is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, north of Crewe and south of Manchester; Swettenham Meadows Nature Reserve lies east of the village and Goostrey lies to the north. The population of the village was 6,700 a ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. Somerfield Hall was a Georgian brick-built

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire 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 Townhou ...

which used to stand in the park as the seat of the Shakerley Baronets family, but was demolished in 1926. The original house was built around 1720 for Peter Shakerley. The Shakerleys had owned land in the area since the reign of Henry III. Several generations of the Shakerley family had previously lived at Hulme Hall near Northwich since the mid-15th century before the family moved to Somerford. The house was then extended in the 18th century by architect

Thomas Farnolls Pritchard Thomas Farnolls Pritchard (also known as Farnolls Pritchard; baptised 11 May 1723 – 23 December 1777) was an English architect and interior decorator who is best remembered for his design of the first cast-iron bridge in the world. Biography ...

and enlarged again around 1800 by Lawrence Robinson of Middleton, Lancashire by the addition of a large rectangular wing at right angles to the existing 9-bay house. The new front faced the park and boasted a central domed bow. The house was then altered by

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...

for Sir Charles Watkin Shakerley in 1859-60 with the addition of an Italianate porch. The parkland was laid out in the 19th century by John Webb. The house was demolished in 1926 and much of the parkland turned into farmland, although the chapel, icehouse and 18th-century stables survive, but in a ruinous condition. All Saints Chapel is listed Grade II*. An equestrian centre was established on part of the estate in 1976.

References

* * {{coord, 53.18, -2.28, type:landmark, display=title Country houses in Cheshire British country houses destroyed in the 20th century