Building record 6395/2 - Gates, Railings and Gatepiers at Sandy Brow, Tarporley Road

<1> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England, 1139160 (Web Site). SCH6528.

Gates, railings and gatepiers at Sandy Brow, Tarporley Road, Grade II Listed.
Gates, railings and gatepiers: small gate early C18, gatepiers late C19, small gate reset, large gates and railings added between 1905-25 for Lord Wavertree. Wrought-iron. The small gate at the centre is of plain bars flanked by panels of gilded scrollwork and supported by later scrolled brackets. The overthrow has gilded finials and scrollwork, and contains a central monogram TDM in copperplate, executed to give a symmetrical image. Attached to the rear is a bell in a framework of similar style. To either side, on a low stone-coped brick wall, are railings of plain bars divided by panels of scrollwork. To the left are a pair of gatepiers with plain brick bodies, moulded limestone capstones and ball finials. They contain a pair of gates of panels of scrollwork, a lock rail and an overthrow with scrolls and gilded leafs. It is not known from where the original gate came, but Oulton Park and Hoseley Hall, Marford are possibilities.

<2> Peter de Figueiredo (Independent Consultant), 2017, Sandy Brow, Tarporley, Cheshire: Conservation Statement, R4726 (Client Report). SCH9502.

Sandy Brow was bought by Colonel William Hall Walker (1st Baron Wavertree, 1856-1933) in 1896, when he also became MP for Widnes. At the time of purchase, Sandy Brow was a small house with stables close to the Tarporley Race Course, administered by the prestigious Tarporley Hunt Club. William was a son of Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, founder of Walker’s Brewery, who donated funds for the construction of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

Colonel Walker achieved distinction as a breeder of race horses in England and Ireland. In 1900, he bought land at Tully in County Kildare, Ireland, where he began breeding horses. At Sandy Brow, Walker commissioned the Chester Architect, Richard Thomas Beckett, to design a stable complex. This was built, c.1905, in vernacular style with timber-framing. Beckett also developed a prefabricated system which was specially adapted for stabling horses. 'The Soarer', the legendary racehorse that won the Grand National in 1896, was stabled here, along with four other British Classics. Apart from a period during World War II when Sandy Brow was requisitioned for use by the engineering company Vickers Limited, it remained in the family and continued to be used for race horses.

In 1915 Colonel Walker gave his bloodstock to the British Nation, shortly afterwards establishing the National Stud in Tully. At the time the country was desperately in need of cavalry horses for World War I, and in turn the government purchased Walker’s stud farm in Ireland and a training stable he owned at Russley Park in Wiltshire. In recognition of his gesture, Walker was given the title of Lord Wavertree, and the property and horses became the first National Stud for Great Britain. In 1943 the National Stud was moved from Ireland to Newmarket and, two years later, the Tully property in County Kildare became the Irish National Stud.