Monument record 14928/5 - Dorfold Hall, Statue Group

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1138562 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

GV II Statue group in the forecourt of Dorfold Hall. Large iron mastiff, with three puppies and feeding bowl, on raised stone base, circa 1862. Larger than life-sized female dog, with section of chain hanging from neck, standing, in defiant attitude, over three puppies with one of her feet upsetting a feeding bowl. The group are in their natural oxidized iron colour and are linked by a thin metal base plate. A two-step-high oval stone base supports the group.

<2> Worlledge Associates, 2018, Dorfold Hall, Acton, Cheshire: Statement of Significance, R4293 (Client Report). SCH8675.

A Statement of Significance was produced in 2019 for Dorfold Hall and gardens in support of a proposal for its development as a wedding venue. The proposal is to re-develop the former service yard and stable area, including re-furbishing the existing coach house and a garden building in the walled gardens. The following information is taken from the report.

In 1849, Nesfield was commissioned to provide a report on Dorfold Hall. The report 'on the present state of the accompaniments to Dorfold Hall with propositions for improvement’, considered the first impressions of the house as far from satisfactory, with the present drive not terminating in front of the house, but the side. He considered that this, along with the dense summer foliage masking the body of the main house, would result in a visitor to the property being unsure of whether the road was a back approach. However, Nesfield's plans were not implemented until after 1861 due to family opposition to the scheme; they were eventually undertaken by Wilbraham Tollemache. The works undertaken included altering the pool in front of the house to provide for a straight access carriage drive, a gate lodge, elaborate entrance gates, a new entrance court with carriage sweep and a bronze statue of a mastiff and her pups, all enclosed with a low wall and gates, a coach house with clock tower, and a pleasure garden to the south with parterres. Trees were removed to open up views of the house, and to the south, to create a view to St. Mary's Church, Acton. It is suggested that the statute of the Mastiff and the entrance gates to the drive were bought from the Paris Exhibition of 1855. It has also been suggested that the ornamental gateway with lions was also installed as part of this work. Much of the Nesfield work survives, with the exception of the parterres to the south lawn, which were apparently removed during the Second World War.