Tabley House is a splendid red-brick neo-Palladian mansion. The Tabley estate was the home of the Leicester family for over 700 years and the first recorded house on the site was built in the late-14th century.
This was constructed on an island in the Nether Tabley Mere and later became known as Tabley Old Hall. When Sir Peter Leicester built a new house on a slightly higher site in 1761 - 69 the Old Hall was abandoned as the family's main residence.
Tabley Old Hall survived until 1927 when subsidence, caused by salt extraction beneath the house, resulted in its sudden collapse.
The new house, constructed on the recently purchased Over Tabley estate, was designed by John Carr of York.
The main block has a magnificent Doric portico of local red sandstone, which was originally painted white. A pair of curving staircases provides access to the piano nobile and from here the Nether Tabley Mere can be seen to the south. Two service wings with canted windows are joined to the main block by curved corridors.
The first view of the house is the detached private chapel, dating from 1674 - 77, beside the west (service) block. This originally stood next to Tabley Old Hall but was re-erected here when the bulk of the ancient building was demolished in 1827 - 29.
In the early 19th century Sir John Leicester (later 1st Lord de Tabley), the son of the builder of the house, acquired a fine collection of pictures by British artists.
Leicester's collection was divided between Tabley and his London house and in the 1820s it was offered to the Government as the basis of a National Gallery of British Art. When the offer was refused a group of pictures was excluded from the following sale and taken to Tabley.
This has remained mostly intact and is an unusual example of an early-19th century country house collection based on the contemporary works of native British artists.
After World War II Tabley House became a school but in recent times the ground and second floors have been converted into residential accommodation for the elderly.
The rooms on the piano nobile contain the picture collection and have been carefully restored to their 1840s condition. The principal rooms, set out around a central staircase, contain English works of art, furniture and memorabilia.
The tour forms a circuit beginning in the Entrance Hall which has plasterwork by Thomas Oliver of Warrington and the woodwork by Daniel Shillito and Thomas Bertram.
The Drawing Room (the original Dining Room) has more work by the same craftsmen and the walls are closely hung with paintings, including works by Lely, Opie and Lawrence. There are also pictures collected by the 1st Lord de Tabley including J.M.W. Turner's, 'Tabley House and Lake: Windy Day' dated 1808.
The smaller Octagon room with its delicate plaster ceiling was originally known as the common parlour. This room contains pictures of the old and new houses at Tabley painted by Antony Devis in 1768 - 70, together with Carr's original model of the the present house.
The Dining Room was created from two smaller rooms in 1840 - 45 for the 2nd Lord de Tabley.
The top-lit Staircase Hall leads to the Picture Gallery.
This was created in 1807 from four rooms on the west front of the house and was further embellished by Lord de Tabley in 1840 - 45. This room, divided into three sections by low segmental arches, has seen little change since the mid-19th century. The furniture is by Bullock and Gillow and there are two elaborate Rococo mirrors dating from the 1670s and two early-17th virginals in working order. Deep red flock wallpaper provides a perfect background for the pictures by artists such as James Ward, Benjamin Robert Haydon, Fuseli and C.R. Leslie. Over the fireplace is 'Lady Leicester as Hope' by Lawrence, dated 1814.
2008: Easter Sun then 3 Apr-Oct: Thur-Sun & Bank Holidays 14:00-17:00. Last entry 16:30
Tel: 01565 750151 Tabley House Website
