The Mount House,With Railings Gates And Gate Piers On North Side

The Mount House is a large detached house located in Alderley Village. It has a core dating from the late 17th century and underwent alterations in 1756 to the south and in 1785 to the north. The exterior is rendered and features a stone dentil cornice and parapet, topped with a Cotswold stone slate roof that is hipped to the west, along with brick stacks. The building has a double range with an angled corner to the northeast and large canted bays at the west end. It stands two storeys high with an attic and has a north front with seven windows, mostly original 12-pane sashes that have moulded stone architraves. To the right of the centre, there is a doorcase with a moulded stone architrave and a dentil pediment supported by fluted consoles, leading to a fine six-panel door with fielded panels, which retains its original lock and key in working order. The south front has six uneven bays with central round-headed windows on each floor, while the remaining windows mirror those on the north front. The doorcase on this side is also to the right of centre, accessed by three curved moulded stone steps, featuring a plain pediment supported by fluted consoles and a six-panel door with the top two panels glazed, which also retains original lock gear.

Inside, much of the original 18th-century joinery remains, including a very fine wooden staircase in the entrance hall with a carved string, turned balusters, and a ramped handrail. On the north side of the house, there are wrought iron double gates with a raised central scrolled motif, flanked by rusticated stone piers on moulded bases with a fluted frieze and rounded pyramidal copings. Railings with an inset diamond pattern sit on a stone base, with stone piers marking the ends of the house, which are slightly smaller than the gate piers and made of ashlar with a fluted frieze.

The Mount House was the last residence of botanist Marianne North, who died in 1890. She laid out the gardens in the 1880s, and some of the original layout and plants still survive, including a stone sundial with a bronze memorial plaque to her last pet opossum mouse, Sir Henry, which she brought from Tasmania. Marianne North is buried in the churchyard of the Church of St. Kenelm.