A Iderley Park. 133 



very ancient seat ; and farther to the south, near Sidding- 

 ton, are Thorneycroft Hall and Park. Both are pictu- 

 resque, and in each is a spacious mere. 



Alderley church and churchyard are remarkably pretty. 

 The Park, with its magnificent beech-trees, and large 

 natural sheet of water, called " Radnor Mere," is 

 not accessible. Neither are the gardens, wherein are 

 many mulberry - trees, that are annually loaded with 

 fruit. The hall is by no means a striking structure ; and 

 although the advantages of the surrounding grounds are 

 the greatest possessed by any place in Cheshire, it would 

 be difficult for less to have been made of them. Up till 

 1779, the family resided at a hall close to the church, on 

 the opposite side of the road. In that year, however, 

 the greater portion was burnt down, and the occupants 

 took up their abode in the existing one. The con- 

 nexion of the name of Stanley with Alderley appears to 

 extend back to about A.D. 1420, when the estate was 

 inherited by marriage. Subsequently it was forfeited to 

 the Crown, and after experiencing several changes of 

 ownership, was re-acquired by purchase on the part of 

 the first baronet, whose creation took place in 1660. 

 From the latter was lineally descended the Sir John 

 Stanley who, in 1839, was raised to the peerage, under 

 the title of Baron Stanley of Alderley. 



The great celebrity of the name of Stanley, its con- 

 nexion with the most stirring events in English history, 

 and the lofty position it holds in the politics and adminis- 



