Willoughbridge Lodge

SJ 73 NW LOGGERHEADS C.P MUCKLESTONE

8/105 Willoughbridge Lodge (formerly listed as 17/11/66 Willowbridge Lodge) II* Former hunting lodge, now farmhouse. Originally built for the Gerard family. Mid-C16, extended late C16 with later additions and alterations, chiefly of early to mid-C19. Dressed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings, one range of C19 additions red brick, plain tiled roofs. Earliest part a square tower with flanking gabled wings - probably slightly later are the 2 front gabled wings at right angles to these; long parallel C19 additions to rear. Tower: in 3 stages over cellar with moulded string courses to second and third stages; 2 stepped buttresses at corners to front, embattled parapet (partly renewed); projecting rectangular stair turret to right with scale-patterned ogee cap and globe finial; two 3-light mullioned windows to second and third stages and 2 single-light openings (both with dripstones) to ground floor on either side of flat-headed doorway, also with dripstone and C19 iron-studded door. Flanking 2-storeyed wings: of one bay in each direction (note the better dressed masonry of the slightly later ones to the front); 3-light mullioned windows with dripstones and coped stone verges to gables (the globe finials now lie on the ground nearby); sandstone ridge stack to left-hand front wing with on the wall below an engraved stone commemorating the Great Cattle Plague of 1866. 2-storeyed ranges at right angles to rear, the right-hand one of stone and probably slightly earlier than the left-hand one of red brick, both with mid-C20 casements. Interior not inspected. A buttressed sandstone revetment wall immediately to the north protects the terraced hill on which the lodge stands. Magnificent views across the Cheshire Plain. B.O.E., p.207.

Listing NGR: SJ7403538768