This tree stump sculpture shows some of the creatures which are found around Dunham Massey including a fox on top, a pheasant, beetle and snail.

My brother and I met up and had a brief visit to Dunham Massey where there is a very interesting exhibition called “Dunham’s Lost Years – A Victorian Tale of Love and Abandonment”   After the young 7th Earl of Stamford’s wife tragically died of TB the wealthy Earl scandalised the local society in 1855 by marrying Catherine Cox in 1855 before the customary year of mourning.  Because she was a circus performer the couple were ostracised by the landed gentry and eventually left Dunham for another home where they had a happy life together and became very popular with the locals. The exhibition tells the story of the hostility towards them and the effect on the servants and estate workers when Dunham was abandoned for about 50 years.  We were left to conclude whether the Earl had done the right thing or whether the consequences were devastating to the local economy and people and to Dunham Massey house.