The Dower House – Heaton Park

By way of a taster for next Tuesday’s evening stroll from Heaton Park, here’s a bit about the Dower House.

The building is a plain 18th century brick building that was transformed into an attractive feature or ‘eyecatcher’ around 1803, when the decorative front was added.

Old maps of the park show that in 1844 it was called ‘Poultry House’, and in 1893 it was called ‘The Cottage’.

The low brick wall in front of the house is bigger than it looks.  It’s a ha-ha – there’s a ditch in front of it to stop cattle in the meadow from grazing on the formal lawn.  The wall forms a barrier unseen from the house, which is now the home of the Manchester Bee Keepers Association and has an exhibition of different hives on view.

We will pass near here on Tuesday evening (12 April) - meet at 7.30 pm at Heaton Park Metrolink station, for a 10 km walk to Whitefield Metrolink station via the northern part of Heaton Park and the villages of Simister and Unsworth. Not forgetting refreshments at the Same Yet Inn.  All welcome.