Monument record 11045 - Cholmondeley's Mansion, Grosvenor Park

<1> Chester Archaeology, 1995, Heritage Assessment of Dee House and Environs, Chester., R2685 (Client Report). SCH4794.

Cholmondeley's Mansion (no longer extant) can be seen on McGahey's balloon view of the city in 1852, but was demolished when Grosvenor Park was laid out in 1867. It appears to have been very similar in style to the Archdeacon's house, with three-storey's and a central bow fronted bay, and was probably built at a similar time, around the middle of the eighteenth century. It replaced an earlier house which passed to Sit Hugh Cholmondeley, one of the royal commissioners, after the Dissolution.

<2> Hemingway, J., 1831, History of Chester, from its foundation to the present time. Volume 2 (Book). SCH1412.

<3> Hemingway, J., 1831, History of Chester, from its foundation to the present time. Volume 1 (Book). SCH1436.

<4> Simpson, F., 1910, The Walls of Chester (Book). SCH3255.

<5> Ainsworth, S & Wilmott, T, 2005, Chester Amphitheatre, from Gladiators to Gardens (Booklet-Leaflet). SCH6871.

By the late eighteenth century, the new house appears to have had extensive gardens below, along the southern edge of what is now Grosvenor Park. The house had its private side facing east out along open ground, taking advantage of the open landscape of fields and river in the distance to create the visual effect of an attached landscape park.

<6> Chester Archaeology, 2013, Grosvenor Park Student Training Excavation 2013, p.2-3 (Unpublished Report). SCH7137.

A series of excavations have been carried out in Grosvenor Park, in partnership with Chester University, as part of the Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research/CAER Project. The project began in 2007 and one of its principle objectives was to locate the remains of Cholmondeley’s Mansion. It is thought that the house occupied the site of earlier medieval buildings attached to the collegiate church of St John (CHER 11033), including a chapel dedicated to St Anne (CHER 11033/4), and a range of petty canons houses (CHER 11033/11/3). Following the Dissolution, the buildings of St John’s College mostly became private residences, and this part of Chester became the preserve of the gentry. The chapel of St Anne passed into the possession of Sir Hugh Cholmondeley and became his town house. However, it is not clear how much the building was altered by the Cholmondeley family during the latter part of the sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth centuries. (see source 7)

The excavation season of 2012 (Trench IV) recorded evidence for the mansion in the form of a widespread demolition layer, rich in finds of the 16th and 17th century, thought to be associated with the raising of the mansion by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War siege of Chester in 1645. Beneath the demolition layer, the remains of a timber-framed building were found, with a brick hearth and a drain, possibly representing the remains of the precursor to the eighteenth century mansion. A large Tudor rubbish pit, excavated in 2007, lay adjacent to this building. Further ranges of the building appear to have extended west and south.

<7> Chester Archaeology, Archaeology in the Park: Grosvenor Park, Chester 2007 (Newsletter). SCH6469.

<8> L-P Archaeology, 2019, Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER): Interim Archaeological Excavation Report for 2017, R4442 (Client Report). SCH8888.

The 2017 excavation season in Grosvenor Park returned to investigating the area of Trench IV, also Trench VIII, the demolition layer was again encountered, producing a range of 16th and 17th century pottery as well as a coin of Elizabeth I dated 1575-79. Overlying this, was a layer of cultivation soil containing pottery dating from the 16th to 19th century. Both the demolition material and the overlying cultivation soil produced a significant quantity of lead shot and associated firearms equipment, e.g. powder holder caps. These objects are thought to be further evidence that the demolition layer is associated with the raising of Cholmondeley’s Mansion by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War siege of Chester in 1645.

Also, at the western end of Trench VIII, a series of structural remains in the form of a robbed-out wall and an area of hard-standing formed from re-used medieval floor tiles are likely to be associated with part of the Cholmondeley’s Mansion building complex. The wall robbing activity is broadly dated to the 17th century and may well be contemporary with the Civil War.

It is interesting that the evidence shows that the buildings of the 16th and 17th century mansion were not confined just to the very western part of the Park as was the case for the later mansion built in the 18th century. This earlier mansion was possibly a courtyard building with a mix of masonry and timber framed structures.

<9> L-P Archaeology, 2019, Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER): Interim Archaeological Excavation Report for 2018, R4443 (Client Report). SCH8896.

The 2018 excavation season at Grosvenor Park returned to Trenches IV and VIII and further examined the features identified in 2017.

<10> L-P Archaeology, 2024, Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research Project (CAER): Interim Archaeological Excavation Report for 2019 (Training), R4806 (Client Report). SCH9679.

A return to Trench VIII in the 2019 excavation season recorded a series of structural remains at the western end of the trench in the form of a possible beam slot and a row of three possible postholes. These are thought likely to be associated with part of the Cholmondeley’s building complex. A linear feature aligned north-west/south-east was traced south-east and probably extended further; the fill produced pottery of 16th century date.