The lion is situated at the entrance to Cliffe Park Hall.
The large ornamental upright seated lion is constructed of stone that is worn and weathered with moss and lichen covering some parts. It is situated on low stone pillar that forms part of a stone wall to the left side of a cattle grid at the drive entrance to the property.
Cliffe Park Hall is a Grade II listed building that was built in a Gothic style in 1811 for John Haworth at an estimated cost of £25,000. A description of the architecture can be found at the following link. (
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John Howarth died in 1831 and the estate passed to his cousin Fanny Bostock. Fanny died in 1875 with no heirs and the estate was then sold in lots by the executors in 1885. Ownership of the hall passed to the Reverend E. D. Boothman who retained the hall until 1903 when it was to the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) who were owners of the lake.
Having also purchased 67 acres of land around the hall the NSR opened a golf course in 1906 using the hall as the club house. The golf course closed in 1926. (
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"Cliff Park Hall was leased to the Youth Hostels Association by the LMS Railway Company in 1933, opening it’s doors on the 1st June that year. Rudyard Lake Hostel proved to be one of their more popular venues. After the war the hostel was in dire need of renovation. The new owners, British Rail, were unwilling to do that without significantly increasing the rent so the YHA began negotiations to take it over. They finally succeeded in September 1955 and promptly started work. It wasn’t until 6 July 1958 that the hostel was re-opened with great fanfare by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, the re-opening coinciding with the hostel’s silver jubilee." Source: (
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Staffordshire Past Tracks: (
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"George Orwell wrote a diary when travelling in the area:
3.2.1936
Found hostel, about 1 mile further on, with difficulty. Alone again. A most peculiar place this time. A great draughty barrack of a house, built in the sham-castle style – somebody’s Folly – about 1860. All but three or four of the rooms quite empty. Miles of echoing stone passages, no lighting except candles and only smoky little oilstoves to cook on. Terribly cold.
Only 2/8d left, so tomorrow must go into Manchester (walk to Macclesfield, then bus) and cash cheque.
Distance walked, 12 miles. Spent on conveyances 1/8. On food, 2/8.
4.2.1936
Got out of bed so cold that I could not do up any buttons and had to [go] down and thaw my hands before I could dress. Left about 10.30 am. A marvellous morning. Earth frozen hard as iron, not a breath of wind and the sun shining brightly. Not a soul stirring. Rudyard lake (about 1½ miles long) had frozen over during the night. Wild ducks walking about disconsolately on the ice. The sun coming up and the light slanting along the ice the most wonderful red-gold colour I have ever seen. Spent a long time throwing stones over the ice. A jagged stone skimming across ice makes exactly the same sound as a redshank whistling." Source: (visit link) Google Book -The Orwell Diaries: (
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Cliffe Park Hall continued as a Youth Hostel until 1969 when it was sold to private buyers.
Brian Dalley bought the hall from YHA in 1970 and lived there until his death in 2015.
Shortly before his death Mr Dalley was the victim of an aggravated burglary at the hall during which he was tied up for several hours and beaten. A newspaper report about the incident can be seen at the following link. (
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Following Mr Dalley's death the hall has been sold again but at the present time (2017) is unoccupied .
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