Rookery Hall

Rookery Hall is an Elizabethan-style mansion located off the B5074 road near the village of Worleston in Cheshire, England. Dating originally from 1816 but extensively altered in the late 19th century, the hall is listed at grade II.cite web |title = Images of England: Rookery Hall, Main Road |url = http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=57003 |publisher= English Heritage| accessdate = 2008-03-06] As of 2008, Rookery Hall is a hotel, restaurant and spa.

History

The hall dates from 1816, and was originally a plain late Georgian house in brick known as "The Rookery, Worleston".Latham FA, ed. "Acton", pp. 101, 120–1 (The Local History Group; 1995) (ISBN 0 9522284 1 6).] de Figueiredo P, Treuherz J. "Cheshire Country Houses", p. 268 (Phillimore; 1988) (ISBN 0 85033 655 4).] The first owner was William Hilton Cooke of Chester, who owned a Jamaican sugar plantation.cite web |title = Rookery Hall: History |url = http://www.handpicked.co.uk/opencms/sites/default/HPH/hotels/rookery_hall/about/history.html |publisher=Hand Picked Hotels | accessdate = 2008-03-07] The estate was purchased in 1867 by Baron William Henry von Schröder, a merchant banker and son of J. Henry Schröder, the founder of Schroders. It was extended and extensively altered into an Elizabethan style for von Schröder in around 1900.Pevsner N, Hubbard E. "The Buildings of England: Cheshire", p. 391 (Penguin Books; 1971) (ISBN 0 14 071042 6).] Robinson JM. "A Guide to the Country Houses of the North-West", p. 61 (Constable; 1991) (ISBN 0 09 469920 8).] The estate was sold by von Schröder's son in 1947.

The hall became a hotel and restaurant in around 1975. The west wing was added in 1990, and the former stable block was converted into a spa. Further expansion was completed in 2007. [cite web |title = Rookery Hall: New development completed |url = http://www.handpicked.co.uk/opencms/sites/default/HPH/hotels/rookery_hall/development/ |publisher=Hand Picked Hotels | accessdate = 2008-03-07]

Description

The hall is neo-Elizabethan in style. It is constructed on an asymmetrical plan consisting of two storeys and five bays, of yellow sandstone ashlar cladding with a slate roof.

The corner tower has a wedge-shaped pavilion roof, reminiscent of a Loire Valley château; it is tiled in shaped green Westmorland slates. The projecting entrance porch is Corinthian in style, featuring a semi-circular arch and fluted pilasters supporting a first-floor balcony with ball finials to the balustrade. There is a similar balustraded balcony to the drawing room to the south of the porch. The porch windows feature metal grilles with scroll and leaf decoration.

To the north of the porch is a two-storey mullioned and transomed window flanked with pilasters, and most of the windows to the main façade are also mullioned and transomed. The service wing features a single-storey octagonal bay. The rear façade features two full-height bay windows, a balustrade at roof level, a cast-iron verandah with a glass roof and a balustraded terrace. The south-east corner has a wall sundial.

The hall is set in 38 acres of parkland by the River Weaver, including gardens, woodland, a fountain and a small lake. The gardens are included in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. [cite web |url=http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/sites/rookeryh.htm |title=U.K. Database of Historic Parks and Gardens: Rookery Hall |accessdate=2008-03-12 |publisher=University of York ]

Interior

The main reception rooms feature wood panelling and panelled ceilings. The dining room ceiling is vaulted with quatrefoils, coronets and shields, including the von Schröder coat of arms; the cornice features winged cherubs. The walnut panelling of the dining room features reeded pilasters. The panelling in the sitting room originated in Calveley Hall, now demolished; it is Jacobean in date and features a fluted frieze. [Robinson, pp. 16, 61.] The salon has a deep cornice with foliage decoration, and foliage and scrolls ornament the ceiling.

The Meissen corner fireplace in the salon is in marble and dates from 1880. A large stone Jacobethan fireplace with pilasters stands in the dining room; the sitting room has a small stone Jacobean-style fireplace. The staircase is in oak with twisted balusters, panelled newels and a panelled spandrel.

Modern hotel

As of 2008, Rookery Hall is managed by the Hand Picked Hotels group as a seventy-bedroom hotel, restaurant, health club and spa.cite web |title = Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa: About |url = http://www.handpicked.co.uk/opencms/sites/default/HPH/hotels/rookery_hall/about/ |publisher=Hand Picked Hotels | accessdate = 2008-03-07] The hotel has four AA stars and the restaurant two AA rosettes. [cite web |title = Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa |url = http://www.visitcheshire.com/site/accommodation/rookery-hall-hotel-and-spa-p2961 |publisher= Visit Cheshire | accessdate = 2008-03-08] It is licensed for civil wedding ceremonies. [cite web |title = Getting Married....places |url = http://www.crewe-nantwich.gov.uk/community__life_events/life_events/getting_married/wedding_venues.aspx |publisher= Borough of Crewe and Nantwich | accessdate = 2008-03-08]

David Beckham and "Posh Spice" Victoria Adams got engaged at Rookery Hall in 1997, and it was the venue for their engagement party in 1998. [cite web |title = Turner S. Book it like Beckham, "Mail on Sunday" (27 August 2002) |url = http://www.travelmail.co.uk/travel/Indonesia/Book-it-like-Beckham.html?article_id=20075 |publisher= Associated Newspapers Ltd | accessdate = 2008-03-08] cite web |title = Spice wedding frenzy (3 July 1999) |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/07/99/the_posh_wedding/383759.stm |publisher=BBC | accessdate = 2008-03-08] The hotel management gave the couple an engagement cake depicting Rookery Hall with the couple sitting on top of it, which was later auctioned to benefit Goostrey Primary School.

References

External links

* [http://www.handpicked.co.uk/opencms/sites/default/HPH/hotels/rookery_hall/about/index.html Rookery Hall Hotel & Spa]