HS2 landed with hefty repair bill for empty £3.8m ‘Charles Dickens’ mansion bought for now-axed railway

HS2 must carry out essential repairs to an empty countryside mansion it bought for £3.8m just months before the planned railway line was scrapped – even though no one will be living in the Georgian property any time soon.

Stanthorne Hall, near Middlewich in Cheshire, was purchased from the former owner in March 2023 after they successfully claimed a “compelling reason” to sell because the planned Crewe to Manchester high-speed line was set to pass by the house.

However, the section of line, known as 2b Western Leg, was cancelled by the then prime minister Rishi Sunak in October 2023, and the three-storey hall has been unoccupied since the taxpayer-funded purchase.

The country house, built between 1804 and 1807, has a place in local folklore as Charles Dickens is said to have stayed there while writing Great Expectations. The rumour is supported by claims that his character Miss Havisham was inspired by a woman who lived in the adjacent Stanthorne Lodge.

open image in gallery

But due to the crumbling state of the building, HS2 has been forced to start maintenance works to preserve the unused site, which includes a farm and 114 acres of land, and to prevent further decay. Works approved by the local council last week include fixing chimneys, roof tiles, windows and leaks.

HS2 would not share the cost of the repairs when asked by The Independent; however, the estimated cost of “remediation works” at the hall was said to be around £500,000 in a document written by HS2’s deputy director of property, Rob Middleton, in 2024.

Despite the cost, the works are not intended to prepare the property for occupancy in the short term. Last year, the High Court threw out a judicial review of a decision by HS2 to refuse two members of the Georgian Society permission to lease it out.

The hearing heard it would cost £676,000 to bring the property up to a lettable standard – a prospect deemed “unattractive” by HS2.

Graham Dellow, secretary of the opposition group Mid-Cheshire Against HS2, said: “This property has lain empty for too long. It’s just decaying and becoming another eyesore on the Cheshire countryside.

open image in gallery

“The repairs are to get the property ready in future to get on the market, we think, but really, this is another case of HS2 doing one thing with the right hand and something else with the left hand. Who knows what the plan really is? All we know is it’s costing money.”

David Neillist, from the nearby Winsford Historical Society, said: “Stanthorne Hall is a very important building in the Winsford area, and it is sad to see it derelict and looking in a bad way. Something ought to be done to bring it back into use, rather than sitting empty.”

Stanthorne Hall is one of more than 1,000 properties HS2 bought on behalf of the Department for Transport (DfT) along axed parts of the HS2 route, which will now only go from London to Birmingham. Between October 2023 and March last year, HS2 spent more than £6.5m on repairs and maintenance for the properties it purchased to make way for the line that was cancelled.

Uncertainty now hangs over the scrapped route between Manchester and Birmingham, after the Labour government announced a long-term plan for a railway line linking the two cities, but with no indication yet of where it will go.

Safeguarding measures, which prevent development that could jeopardise future infrastructure, remain in place along the route between Crewe and Manchester.

An HS2 spokesperson said the preservation works at Stanthorne Hall were to “maintain the integrity of the building”, adding that it was a significant property and renovations would be “highly expensive”.

They added: “Stanthorne Hall has not fallen into disrepair over the past three years. These works are part of routine maintenance that any owner would need to undertake every few years to preserve the integrity of the structure.

“They will also seek to address some maintenance issues that were identified before it was acquired on behalf of the transport secretary.

“Although the former owner was able to live in the property prior to acquisition, the standards we must meet to let properties to tenants are high, and some works are required before it can be let on the open market.”

The Independent has approached the DfT, which is responsible for the planned new railway line and future decisions on Stanthorne Hall, for comment.