Description

SJ 37SE
3/7

BACKFORD C.P.
CHURCH LANE (WEST SIDE)

Backford Hall

II
GV

House, now Cheshire County Council Highways and Transportation
offices. 1863 by John Cunningham for E.H.Clegg in exuberant
Elizabethan Jacobean and Bohemian Rococco styles. On site of 1565
hall. Red brick with diaper work, stone plinth, quoins and dressings,
graded slate roofs. In 2 blocks joined by corridor. Hall wing has 2
storeys, attics and cellars. 3 main bays of 7 windows, symmetrically
arranged. Central porch with window set back at each side projects
from central bay which itself is set forward. Sash windows in
shouldered stone surrounds at ground level have Rococco type heads
over shell motif and stone apron. Central bay 1st floor windows below
shaped gables, alternating with smaller rounded gablets. Jacobean
style stone porch has rounded outer arch on tapered pilasters with
strap work decoration. Simpler inner arch leading to double doors at
left and right. Balcony with pierced stone parapet over porch and
adjacent bays which have similarly decorated pilasters at angles.
Tall brick stacks at gable and at sides of central bay have multiple
stone decorated flues. Moulded stone first floor bands. Crest over
windows in side bays. Left hand block, probably service wing, is
similar but plainer. 2 storeys, 6 sash windows. One window slightly
projecting bay with shaped gable at each side. Multiple flues on stack
at gable ends and on ridge. Ground floor obscured by one storey brick
wall with stone quoins and coping. One door has surround of
alternating quoins. Stone pier at left end has moulded cornice and
ball finial. Two wings are joined by 2 storey 2 window corridor.
Interior. Hall wing has heavy mouldings. Ground floor doorcases have
broken pediments and panelled doors. Open string stair C17th style.
Heavily moulded interior to glazed canopy over stair well. Pilasters
and piers in hall have strap work decoration. Elaborately moulded and
panelled ceilings, friezes and architrave adjoining ground floor
rooms, and containing sliding panelled doors. Pevsner & Hubbard;
Obit. J Cunningham in The Builder Oct.18th, (1873) p.821.

Listing NGR: SJ 39793 71843

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Backford Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q4839624

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)