Monument record 15211 - Site of The Boat House, Farndon

<1> Garry Miller: Architectural Historian, 2020, The Boat House, Farndon, Cheshire West and Chester: Heritage Assessment (Updated Version), R4467 (Client Report). SCH8934.

The Boat House, now demolished, occupied a prominent site on the north bank of the River Dee beneath red sandstone cliffs and represents a conspicuous landmark at the gateway to the village of Farndon. It was an undesignated building, located within the Farndon Conservation Area, also lying close to the Grade I listed medieval Farndon-Holt Bridge.

It comprised a long, range of buildings with three main elements - a tall three-storey structure probably dating to the early nineteenth century and originally a cottage overlooking the river; a two-storey building potentially of mid-nineteenth century date; also, a largely twentieth century, single-storey range.

In terms of map regression, the 1735 tenements map of Farndon does not depict any structures of the site. However, the 1840 tithe map depicts a small nucleus of buildings along the riverside. The site comprised two small plots in separate ownership. The largest was a cottage, yard and building owned and occupied by William Dodd; it is possible that this included the three-storey building. The second plot contatined a further cottage owned by Matthew Harrison and occupied by James Plumpton. By the 1870s one of the cottages was occupied by a former dyer, George Scott. Also, by this time, a rowing boat business had been established by Charles Grunnow and then continued by George Jones at was then named 'Dee Cottage'. Early twentieth century photographs show the cottage to have had Gothic-traceried windows and mock timber-framing. The boat business remained operational until 1974. Also, one of the buildings became a tea rooms probably in the early twentieth century. Thereafter, the buildings of the Boat House were used as a restaurant, but then, latterly, became derelict.

<2> Aeon Archaeology, 2020, Farndon Boathouse and Café, High Street, Farndon, Chester, Cheshire, CH3 6PU: Archaeological Watching Brief, R4466 (Client Report). SCH8933.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2020 during the groundworks associated with the erection of a replacement dwelling house at Farndon Boathouse and Café following the demolition of the existing café / dwelling building.

The site was characterised as comprising two distinct areas during the watching brief; an upper part located on an area of raised ground to the south-east, and a lower part located on flat ground to the north-west. During the course of the watching brief no archaeological finds or features were uncovered – the reason for this was that the upper area appeared to have been previously stripped on to the bedrock. This was also true of the lower area which had been reduced onto the natural glacial sand-clay substrata, presumably when the former Boathouse structure was initially constructed.