Monument record 1109/21 - Site of Old Town Hall, Sandbach

<1> Matrix Archaeology, 2006, Market Place, Sandbach, Cheshire: Archaeological Evaluation, R2657 (Client Report). SCH5135.

18. Site of "Old Town Hall"

The former Town Hall or market hall was a north-west to south-east rectangular plan building, which had stood on the site of the War Memorial, effectively dividing the Market Square from High Street
The building 'was constructed upon two sets of brick piers, the space between which facing onto the Market Square was used for incarceration of prisoners on one side, and for shops on the other, whilst the space on the opposite side, facing onto the High Street, was on market days devoted to farmers wives with butter and eggs, and butchers and their stalls' (Tomlinson 1889, 26; Devine & Clark, 2003, 8). The building was shown on the Tithe Plan of 1841 , when it was in the occupation of 'Hamlet Peover and others'; and also on the O.S. First Edition plan of 1875 . There is a drawing of the structure in the Cheshire Archives, showing a three-storey gabled building, probably of stone construction, with an open arched arcade running beneath . It was replaced in 1889 with the town hall on Welles Street, and probably demolished shortly afterwards.

<2> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2009, Improvements to the environment of the historic Market Square, Sandbach, Cheshire; a programme of archaeological recording (Client Report). SCH5190.

The remains of the Old Town hall were positively identified during an archaeological watching brief in 2008/9 during improvement works to the cobbled marketplace. Its full ground plan could be recovered due to the presence of the First World War memorial, erected in 1922. The foundations observed comprised red brick bonded with greyish white, lime-based mortar; between three and four skins of brickwork were included in the foundations, resulting in not insubstantial structures measuring up to c.0.50m wide. During the excavation of a deep drainage trench the area bounded by foundations was shown to house a basement. The basement had been backfilled with mixed brown and redeposited natural sands with brick and mortar fragments. 19th centry pottery and a George III penny dated 1799 were recovered from this backfilled deposit, the floor level of the basement was not established

<3> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<5> Cheshire County Council, 2002, Cheshire Historic Towns Survey: Congleton Borough Part 1: Archaeological Assessments, Sandbach (Report). SCH6977.

<6> R.W. Tomlinson, 1899, History of Sandbach and District (Booklet-Leaflet). SCH8982.