Monument record 1951 - Settlement of Bruera/Buerton

The origins of the settlement known as Bruera are complex. Surprisingly the settlement lies at the junction of three townships - Buerton, Saighton and Churton Heath. The township (and modern parish) boundary between Buerton and Saighton runs down Chapel Lane and separates the moat (CHER 1951/2/1) from the church (CHER 1951/1/1). It also lies at the junction of three early roads, Platt's Lane, Chapel Lane and the now abandoned Boat Lane (CHER 1951/4/1). The historical origins of this topography lie in the pre- and early post-Conquest endowments of St Werburgh’s abbey at Chester, which included Huntington cum Cheaveley, Saighton and Lea Newbold. This block of townships was given ecclesiastical provision as a chapelry within St Oswald’s parish, through a chapel dedicated to St Mary at Bruera (CHER 1951/1/1). The Hearth Tax 0f 1663 returns three cottages for Buerton (which may have been located anywhere in the township). However early nineteenth century maps show a cluster of buildings, located at the junction of Boat Lane and Chapel Lane, to which the name Buerton is applied (CHER 1951/3/3 & 1951/3/4). Aerial photographs and ground evidence suggest that the hamlet of Buerton is a temporary post medieval and modern phenomenon (1).

<1> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1986, Moat & Settlement Remains at Bruera (Unpublished Report). SCH2200.