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The Burning of Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire: the South Front, 1861. Creator: Unknown. The Burning of Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire: the South Front, 1861. 'The stately mansion...was...the scene of a terrible fire, which completely gutted the spacious and handsome building, and resulted in damage amounting to several thousand pounds...the only inmates of the hall when the catastrophe occurred were the owner Arthur Henry Davenport, Esq. and a guest, and the usual servants. The fire...must have been in existence some time before discovered by the footman...[who] raised the alarm...but...within an hour or two the flames issued forth from almost every window in front of the mansion and from the roof...Engines from Macclesfield and Congleton were procured...[but] the only hope left was to concentrate every effort upon preventing the spread of the fire beyond the body of the hall, the interior of which began to fill with smoke...Nearly all the articles of worth...have been preserved...The drawing-room was denuded of its furniture, glasses, paintings, carpet, and ornaments before the flames burst through the door...The ante-room, the library, and Mr. Davenport's study are entirely gutted, nothing now remaining in them but charred beams, and the smouldering remains of the beds, bedding, and furniture for the rooms that were above'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861. (KEYSTONE/HERITAGE IMAGES/THE PRINT COLLECTOR)