Arderne Hall

There are four known stages of development on this site.

1. Eaton Banks was occupied by General Richard Egerton, Esq (1783-1854) and his wife Arabella from around 1819-1860. It was owned by Edward Lord Skelmersdale, Wilbraham Egerton and Randle Wilbraham, all trustees of the late John Arden.
2. In 1865, a large neo-gothic Victorian mansion called Arderne Hall was built in brick to the design of Joseph Crowther on the site of the previous house. The estate was now in the possession of George Baillie Hamilton (1827-1917), heir apparent Earl of Haddington who had inherited it through his wife Helen Catherine Warrender. It was demolished in 1958.
3. In 1966 a house comprising two interlocking towers, three storeys high was built by David Brock for Desmond O'Brien, descendant of the 11th Earl of Haddington.
4. Around 1990, the house and parkland were sold and converted to a championship Golf Course with the double-towered house as the club house. It has since been purchased by Macdonald Hotels and a new hotel block has been built alongside.

1. Eaton Banks

On the tithe map of 1838, the plot is described as House, Outbuilding, Yard, Garden and Pleasure Ground, and Land Use is described as Garden. In an account book of the estate dated 1819-21 and signed off by Richard Egerton, there are references to the purchases of seed, sea-kale pots and costs relating to gardeners from Oulton and Arley (local estates). In the auction sale catalogue of 1860 following the death of his widow Arabella, several interesting garden items are listed along with the usual garden tools:

• 4 cucumber frames with two lights, 2 with one light
• quantity of green-house plants
• 10 garden hand-glasses (cloches)
• covers for wall trees (frost protection)
• wire flower stands
• 'Budding's patent lawn mowing machine
• garden engine on wheels (hand water cart with pump)

An undated plan of the estate, thought to be some years after the 1838 tithe map, shows landscaped parkland with a garden surrounding the house. A large rectangular area divided into four sections is probably a walled kitchen garden.

It is said that Richard Egerton took immense pride in the park around Eaton Banks and may have consulted the designer John Webb on the landscaping of the parkland. A fake ruin was described as the "last remnants of a Roman Catholic Abbey, sadly battered by cannon balls". Beside it stood a cross with the words "Agincourt MCDXV" on one side and "St Crispin" on the other. Steps led down into the "Fernery where an inner circle was formed of old roots and branches, arranged to give the appearance of gothic windows ...." It is thought that it was General Egerton who created the Dell or Rock Garden from an old red sandstone quarry. A narrow winding staircase of 28 steps was said to lead to a patch above the rock garden where many beautiful shrubs were planted, including two tamarisks and a bed of crowberry and variagated lily-of-the-valley (the purchase of "crawberries" was listed on the General's accounts of 1819).

General Richard Egerton constructed a "river" from some old marl pits. It is sometimes described as Fish Pond or Adam's Well. Here there was an obelisk and a bridge to an island.

2. Arderne Hall

When Arderne Hall was built in 1865 on the site of Eaton Banks, the contract or agreement described "a family mansion and all such necessary outbuilding, yards, gardens and pleasure grounds as should be proper and suitable ....." The garden already established on the Eaton Banks site was protected by a further paragraph stating "that the contractor shall and will protect from injury and prevent all damage to the trees, shrubs and plants in and about the gardens and pleasure grounds near to the site of the said intended mansion and shall be liable to pay ......" In 1882, the resulting mansion was described by George Ormerod as an extensive and handsome mansion. In 1896, Arderne Hall was described as "a pleasantly plain mansion of warm coloured old brick with a comparatively small park, and the latter also a peculiarly picturesque structure with a demesne whose woods are a wonder and whose holly hedges a marvel, one at least of the latter being half a mile long, fifteen feet high and eleven feet thick11".

The 11th Earl of Haddington clearly took some interest in the parkland; a photograph exists of him planting an oak tree in 1912 to "commemorate the completion of his 85th year". The household accounts of 1911 show payments for garden sundries such as seeds, fertiliser and the services of gardeners.

In October 1937, Cheshire Life magazine published an article entitled "The Master Foresters of Delamere" which included the following descriptions of the gardens around the hall. "Arderne makes no pretension to formal gardens but this adds rather than detracts from its attraction, for it is girt by descending terraces of spacious lawns and, going further afield, by undulating parkland of unusual beauty. There is throughout a great variety and wealth of trees, among them many magnificent Spanish chestnuts and oaks, the latter in some cases many centuries old. Examples of less common varieties are also outstanding, including a very fine specimen of the semi-evergreen Lucombe oak, a pear tree with the phenomenal girth of 8ft 10inches, and a tulip tree scarely smaller than the pear. Where one of the lawns terminates in a sunk fence, there appears another unusual feature, namely a great expanse of natural rock garden, formed of red sandstone and clothed with bracken, heather and broom, and scattered amongst them a great variety of small shrubs and rock plants.

Arderne Hall was demolished in 1958 as it was no longer economic. After its demolition and before the double-tower house was erected, the site was described as "tumbled, empty, the foundations exposed ... but all around the park, the gardens, the lawns, parterres and avenues are well maintained by Desmond O'Brien who lives nearby". In 1973, it was noted that after the house was demolished , "the fine trees in the garden remained - the giant pear tree, said to be the largest in Great Britain, a rare tulip tree, a fine Lucombe Oak and a splendid Lebanese Cedar".

3. The Double Towered House

In 1966 another house was built on this same site for Desmond O'Brien, descendant of the 11th Earl of Haddington. It comprised two interlocking towers, three storeys high and built by the Liverpool architect David Brock.

4. Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf and Spa

In 1990, the site was converted to a golf club with the two towers forming the club house and a formal garden behind the club house.

The site was subsequently purchased by Macdonald Hotels and a new hotel block was constructed alongside the double towered club house.

Type

Estate

Purpose

Recreational/sport

Principal Building

Commercial

Survival

Part: standing remains

Hectares

84

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Tarporley