Join Cheshire Life’s History columnist James Balme as he visits Dunham Hall to take a look at the old Mill that stands on the foundations of an earlier mill dated to around 1353.
It was in the 14th century when Hammon de Massey created the Dunham Massey estate. In the 17th century Dunham hall was constructed by the Earls of Warrington and In 1694 the hall was inherited by the 2nd Earl of Warrington. But It was in 1736 when the first of the Stamford family took up residence at the hall that things began to change to what we see there today. By 1751 the whole of the Dunham estate was enclosed by a curtain wall 8ft high being constructed of brick with a sandstone top, the deer park that had existed since Medieval times was finally fully protected.
By inheritance the hall had been passed down to the Stamford family where they remained for generations to come until upon the death of Lord Stamford in 1976 Dunham hall and estate was gifted to the nation under the care of the National Trust. The hall was formerly part of the ancient parish of Bowdon.
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