The Picture Gallery from a circa 1890 photograph
Built / Designed For: Thomas Henry Ismay
House & Family History: Dawpool Hall was a palatial red sandstone mansion built in the mock Tudor style as a show house for Thomas Henry Ismay (1837-99), founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, more commonly known as the White Star Line (Dawpool's architect, Richard Norman Shaw, also built the White Star Building in Liverpool for Ismay). Thomas's son, J. Bruce Ismay, famously survived the sinking of the "Titanic." Dawpool was famous for its large, barrel-vaulted Picture Gallery (see "Images" section), which inspired the Music Room at nearby Thornton Manor. Dawpool was always considered a cold and unwelcoming house; the Ismay family moved out only 21 years after the building was completed. Used as an auxiliary military hospital for officers during World War I, the forbidding house never found another owner and was demolished in 1927.
Garden & Outbuildings: In 1919 28 acres of the estate were sold. The lodge, the Grade II-listed clock tower, and the 1892 stables are extant.
Country Life: Feb 18 & 25, 1911.
Title: Cheshire Country Houses
Author: de Figueiredo, Peter; Treuherz, Julian
Year Published: 1988
Reference: pg. 228
Publisher: Sussex: Phillimore & Co. Ltd.
ISBN: 0850336554
Book Type: Hardback
Title: England's Lost Houses From the Archives of Country Life
Author: Worsley, Giles
Year Published: 2002
Reference: pg. 12
Publisher: London: Aurum Press
ISBN: 1854108204
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Demolished
Park Listed: Destroyed
Past Seat / Home of: Thomas Henry Ismay, 1886-99; Ismay family here until 1907. Sir Herbert Roberts, 1st Bt., later 1st Baron Clwyd, 1907-circa 1912. Mr. F.W.P. Rutter, early 20th century.
Current Ownership Type: Demolished
Primary Current Ownership Use: Demolished
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No