Building record 14125 - Christleton Hall, Christleton, Grade II Listed Eighteenth Century House

Northern Archaeological Associates, 2021, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Christleton Hall, Christleton, Cheshire, R4838 (Client Report). SCH9776.

<1> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England (Web Site). SCH6528.

Christleton Hall, Pepper Street, Christleton: Formerly house, later boarding school, now Law College: mid C18 for Townsend Ince with mid C19 and early C20 alterations. White pointed Flemish bond red brick with stone dressings. Welsh slate roof. 3-storey, 4-bay south front. Stone plinth and moulded stone cornice below coped blocking course. Left 3 bays original house. The end bays of this have channelled stone heads to sashes, one with glazing bars. Central bay has canted 3-storey projection with a 3-sided Tuscan porch now with half glazed panels, and narrow sashes above. Added bay to right has early C20 bow window and later work above. West front shows 4 original bays with a triangular pediment over the central 2. Sashes with channelled heads and mid C19 verandah on iron columns. Extensive additions to the left. Interior: Moulded door architraves, some shouldered. 2 Neo-classical fireplaces and panelled shutters. Remainder much altered. The listing applies to the original 4 by 3-bay house and excludes all C20 additions.

<2> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.289 (Book). SCH7059.

College of Law, Pepper Street, formerly Christleton Hall. Built for the Ince family circa 1750. Used as a seminary circa 1930-70. Plain brick three-storey Georgian house with extensions and new buildings.

<3> Cheshire Gardens Trust, 2011 onwards, Research and Recording Report (Report). SCH6655.

Summary
This late C18 century house and grounds is now used as a college of law. The original house is Grade 2 listed as is the C17- C18 century sandstone boundary wall of the grounds with its inset gazebo. The wall and gazebo, together with the large walled garden/orchard to the east of the house, are possibly the outstanding features of this property. Some trees and outhouses have been lost following the construction of an extensive car park and additional buildings to the rear of the house and the building of a small house for visiting nuns on the Pepper Street side. The two ponds near the canal were filled in some time ago, possibly when the bypass was built and a section of the grounds was lost but the large walled garden with its ancient fruit trees and the ‘pleasure grounds’ maintain their basic form. The conservatory has been removed and the mill mound is much reduced.

Principal Features Remaining
The Georgian House with its C19 veranda
The gazebo and C17-C18 sandstone boundary wall
The walled garden to the east of the house
A small section of the mill mound
Most of the woodland garden and shrubbery (See Map 4)
History

Although Ormerod gives 1816 as the date when Christleton Hall was built, a local historian believes it was built for Thomas Ince (1745-1804) and his wife, Elizabeth (née Townsend) and dates it at 1793.

1804
Christleton Hall passed to the first Townsend Ince on the death of Thomas Ince.
1840
The second Townsend Ince inherited the property on the death of his father
1847 Surveyed for Tithe. (See Map 1)
Plots 9, 10, 11, 12, 414, 415, 416 and 417 were owned by Townsend Ince and all but Plot 12 were occupied by him too.
Plot 9 was called Mill Hill and described as pasture.

Plot 10 is described as Hall Buildings Yards Gardens and Pleasure Grounds, 3 acres and 29 perches in total. The hall is a simple rectangle with outhouses to the north and east. There is a path or track leading from the Pepper Street entrance to the west side of the house. To the east of this entrance is a building set by the wall that could be the gazebo. There appears to be another entrance from Pepper Street between the main entrance and the gazebo.

The map shows a shallow area of mixed woodland and bushes round the north, south and west sides of the hall. This woodland then follows Pepper Street west and curves round to follow the canal for a while. There appear to be two small ponds, one round and one rectangular in the wooded area parallel to the canal.

On the other side of Pepper Street, opposite Christleton Hall, is Plot 414 described as pasture, Plot 415 and 416 which are plantations and Plot 417, a quarry also owned by Townsend Ince. These plots appear to have provided a parkland setting for the hall

<4> Northern Archaeological Associates, 2017, The University of Law, Chester: Redevelopment of Christleton Campus, Christleton, Cheshire: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment (Client Report). SCH8342.

An archaeological desk-based assessment, supplemented with a walk-over survey, were undertaken in 2017 for land at Christleton Hall, University of Law, Chester Campus, Christleton, in advance of re-development for residential use, including demolition of late twentieth century buildings, conversion of Christleton Hall and erection of new residential dwellings. The proposed site comprises some 5.14 hectares with the Grade II Listed Christleton Hall forming the focal point of the site.

The Christleton Township Tithe Map of 1847 is the earliest plan to show the site of the hall and associated land in detail. Plot 10 is described as 'Hall Buildings, Yard, Gardens and Pleasure Grounds' and Plot 11, immediately to the east of the hall, 'Kitchen Garden and Buildings', both owned by Townsend Ince. Plot 9 is 'Mill Hill' and Plot 18 'Part of Mill Hill' also both owned by Townsend Ince. Plot 13 is listed as 'Occupation Road' which extended from Pepper Street northwards to agricultural land. By 1871, the First Ordnance Survey Map, the fields immediately to the north of the site had been re-organised with land formerly owned by Henry Helsal incorporated into parkland associated with the hall. The hall itself had also been expanded with entrance and gardens being re-organised. Further structures were erected in the gardens, such as stores and glasshouses.

In 1934, the Salvatorians, a Roman Catholic religious order, assumed ownership of the hall, using it as a seminary or training college. The converted part of the north-west corner of the parkland into a burial ground and erected a memorial folly. By the late 20th century, the centre and east of the site had been re-developed, with the hall extended, numerous auxiliary structures and outbuildings constructed and the burial ground removed for an associated car park.

<5> Northern Archaeological Associates, 2017, The University of Law, Chester: Redevelopment of Christleton Campus, Christleton, Cheshire: Geophysical Survey Report (Report). SCH8336.

The archaeological evaluation for the 2017 re-development (see source 3) also included a geophysical survey (ECH6450) undertaken in 2016 in the grounds surrounding the hall. Area 2 of this survey was located in the area of the walled garden to the east of the hall, responses reflecting the position of former buidlings (potentially glasshouses and stores) alongside the walls were recorded.