Cheswardine Hall, Past, Present & Future…
The Donaldson-Hudson Chapter…
1875-1948
Cheswardine Hall was built between 1875-1880 according to a neo-Elizabethan design, by Glaswegian Architect John MacVicar Anderson. The estate was around 3,500 acres in size and the gardens were reputed to have been designed in the style of Capability Brown. The man responsible for its build and owner of the estate was Charles Donaldson-Hudson, whose family proceeded to live in Cheswardine Hall for three generations.
The La Mennais Brothers Chapter…
1950-1968
Following the sale of the estate in 1948, the Halebrose Estate took ownership of much of the farm land, most of which is still farmed to this day albeit by differing owners. The Hall itself and its gardens were purchased by the La Mennais Christian Brothers in 1950, a teaching order from Brittany, as their Juniorate for teaching boys who wished to become members of their order. Cheswardine Hall was known as St Edwards throughout the La Mennais ownership.
The Brunt Chapter…
1968-1984
1968-1984 saw Cheswardine Hall run as an approved school by Mr & Mrs Brunt. I know little about this chapter of our homes history but do remember the day, as a young child when I first saw Cheswardine Hall. It had not been run as a school for some time and required a fair amount of work in order to refurbish to care home standard but in early 1984 the reigns were passed to my parents and the current Chapter began.
The Poole Chapter…
1984…
In early 1984 my family moved into Cheswardine Hall. The next year and a half would see an enormous amount of work to transform a tired building into the care home that embraced my parents vision of luxury and exacting standards, with a family focussed and friendly feel. As a family we also lived in Cheswardine Hall from 1984 and moved around the building as the renovation and refurbishment work took place. I can still remember our first few residents and the sense of achievement that permeated throughout the family when our doors finally opened as a care home. Closely followed by the thought that the real work was about to begin. More than 30 years later, making us the second longest serving custodians of Cheswardine Hall, we still own and run Cheswardine Hall as a luxury care home for the elderly. We now offer both nursing and residential care, employ more than forty staff and are one of the few homes I know to offer both single and double ensuite facilities. We, as a family feel immensely privileged to have reinvigorated Cheswardine Hall, given it a purpose where so many other estates have failed and sympathetically upgraded its facilities to modern levels. Looking to the future we strive to continually refine and evolve our service, maintain and develop our estate and enjoy the opportunity and lifestyle that Cheswardine offers our residents and our employees.
