Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey Hall by David Dixon – Wikimedia commons

Top ten Astonishing Facts about Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey also Dunham Massey Hall, is an English country house in the civil Parish of Dunham Massey in the district of Trafford, near Altrincham,  Greater Manchester.

It was built in the early 17th century by Earls of Warrington and then, passed to Earls of Stamford by inheritance. The hall now is a National Trust property open to the public. In the article are ten astonishing facts about the Dunham Massey.

1. Dunham Massey was at The Stamford Military Hospital during World War I

Penelope Grey, the wife of the 9th Earl of Stamford, availed the home to the Red Cross as a military hospital, from April 1917 to January 1919. Hospitalized were182 Minimally injured soldiers by gas poisoning and bullets. Catherine Bennett and Lady Jane Grey ran the hospital.

2. Marriage saved the Dunham Massey Hall

Sir George Booth by William Hoare – Wikipedia commons 

When George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington inherited Dunham Massey in 1694, the Hall had accumulated a huge debt. So George had to play his cards right.

Marrying  Mary Oldbury was his only hope to save the Hall. Mary Oldbury brought with her a dowry of £50,000 which is  £2.5 million in today’s currency. The dowry helped pay the debt.

3. Dunham Massey is surrounded by a great garden

Rose Garden in Dunham Massey by Shaun Johnson  – Wikimedia commons

The garden at Dunham Massey is a great garden of all seasons, with engrossing historic features such as the Victorian Bark House, the Orangery, and the Pump House.

The acidic condition in the area provides varying moisture-loving plants such as giant Chinese Lilies and late-flowering Azaleas, that provide shade. The 7-acre winter land is home to over 1600 winter shrubs, trees, and evergreens with good scents. There is also a deer park in the gardens.

4. It is a house filled with treasures

In his 64 years in the Dunham Massey, George Booth, the 2nd Earl of Warrington, collected over 1000 pieces of Huguenot silver, making Dunham Massey contain one of the largest collections.

There also are fine collections of oil paintings and watercolors. Hanging in the library is a wooden crucifixion by Grinling Gibbons, a famous woodcarver in the 17th century. 

5. Dunham Massey has passed over a series of hands.

The possession of Dunham Massey according to history, can be traced back to three families. It was owned by the Massey family from the time of Domesday until when the line out in c.1342.

After 100 years when the hall had passed through several hands, the Booth family took possession of the barony in the early 15th century, until the mid-eighteenth century when the Grey family formed a coalition through marriage with the booth family.

The Grey family, Earls of Stamford, took possession through inheritance. The Dunham Massey remained in the hands of the Earls of Stamford, until the death of the 10th Earl of Stamford in 1976 when it was made over to the National Trust.

6. Marriage was the medium of inheritance of the Dunham Massey

Dahl I, Michael; Lady Mary Booth (1704-1772), Countess of Stamford- Wikimedia commons

The Booth family held Dunham Massey from the early 15th century to the late 18th century. That was over 300 years.

The Booth family acquired Dunham Massey through the marriage of Sir Robert Booth and Dulcie Venables then only aged nine.

In the mid-18th century, the Grey family acquired Dunham Massey from the Booth family, through the marriage of Lady Mary Booth to her cousin Harry Grey, Lord Grey of Groby, and later the 4th Earl of Stamford from 1715 to 1768, thus Dunham Massey passed to the Grey family.

7. Dunham Massey is the only surviving antediluvian park

Being the only surviving park makes Dunham Massey outstanding. Despite surviving for three centuries, the house has remained in the hands of the same family, with each descendant unique in the ownership of the property.

Dunham Massey is famous and so has the attention of many to catch hence it has kept its lifespan going.

8. Dunham Massey It is a theatre hall

Because of its classy outdated nature, Dunham Massey has captured the attention of moviemakers and actors at large. The shooting of the television series was done in this hall. Series shot in this hall are; 1986- The Return of Sherlock Holmes, 1991-The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, 1994- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and 2012 The Secrets of the Manor House.

9. Access to Dunham Massey by the Public

In full control by the National Trust, though some members of the family still live in parts of the hall, Dunham Massey is open to the public on all days of the week except Thursdays and Fridays between 11 am and 5 pm. Visitors to Dunham Massey will enter the hall through the Sout front.

Admission is per head and not per car and the charges are £6.00 for children and £12.00 per adult. Manchester Airport is the nearest to Dunham Massey and also other means of transport like by car, bus and train are available.

10. Eradication of slave trade Ideas from the Dunham Massey

Dunham Massey Sundial by David Dixon – Wikipedia commons 

After the death of George Floyd, a black man in the streets of the United States of America at the hands of harsh policemen. Many calls were made to clear off any statue related to the slave trade in the Western counties.

The National Trust decided to do away with a life-sized statue of a black man outside the hall holding a sundial above its head. The statue produced by the sculptor Andrea Carpentie`re in c.1735 was believed to be originally the personification of Africa during the slave trade.

              Dunham Massey is a great historical English Country house in England, that has astonishing features all people of all ages can visit and enjoy the scenery and feel the friendliness that ever existed between the two families; the Booth family and the Grey family.