Portal:Cheshire/Selected article/15

Capesthorne Hall is a grade-II*-listed country house, dating from the early 18th century, near the village of Siddington. It was built to Neoclassical designs by William Smith and (probably) his son Francis, and extended later in the 18th century. Edward Blore remodelled and extended it in the 1830s, adding a Jacobean-style frontage, and a large conservatory designed by Joseph Paxton was added in around 1837. The main part of the house was virtually destroyed by fire in 1861. Anthony Salvin was responsible for the rebuilding, which generally followed Blore's designs.

The hall is in red brick with ashlar dressings, on an asymmetrical plan with a long entrance front featuring paired turrets. A sculpture gallery houses ancient copies of famous Greek sculptures, collected by Edward Davies Davenport. The grounds include gardens, parkland and a lake crossed by a five-arched bridge. There is a grade-II*-listed private chapel with elaborate gates and gate piers; it is contemporaneous with the hall and was also designed by William Smith. The earthworks of an earlier hall and chapel, as well as a deserted medieval village in the grounds, form a scheduled ancient monument.

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