Description

SJ 47 SW UPTON-BY-CHESTER C.P. CAUGHALL ROAD
(West Side)

2/38 Oakfield (Headquarters
of Chester Zoo).

-

GV II

Formerly large house, now offices and restaurant: short wing c1885 by
E A Ould, remainder rebuilt 1892 by H Beswick, all for B Chaffers
Roberts, some C20 alterations. English garden wall bond Ruabon brick
with blue brick diapering and red sandstone dressings. Welsh slate
roof and 4 brick chimneys with Tudor-style stacks. 2 and 2½-storey,
4-bay west front. Left 2 bays are earlier parts with canted,
castellated 2-storey bay window with mullioned and transomed windows
in coped and finialled dormers above. To right is a projecting gabled
porch with shaped and coped gable with a griffin finial. Doorcase
with basket-arched head. Similar windows to remainder but with
basket-arched and ogee heads to the lights. Longer south garden front
in similar style of 3 different projecting coped gabled masses.
Interior: Boardroom with fielded mahogany panelling and carved wooden
frieze. Wooden fireplace flanked by fluted pilasters and egg and dart
moulding. Some stained glass in the style of Burne Jones. Staircase
removed but arcade and balustrading survive upstairs. Room to left of
hall has fielded mahogany panelling divided by pilasters. Pedimented
doorcase with acanthus frieze. Panelled ceiling and massive chimney
breast with motto on bressumer and on Tudor-style stone fireplace with
De Morgan tiles.

The estate was bought by George Mottershead in 1930 to house his
private animal collection which with the founding of the North of
England Zoological Society in 1934 led to the present zoo, now the
second largest in Britain.

Listing NGR: SJ4140470158

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Oakfield Manor at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7073866

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments