Building record 15529 - Abbey Gate College, Saighton

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1136660, House (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Abbey Gate College, Grade II Listed (main block except the gatehouse of Saighton Grange)

Description: House (now the main block of Abbeygate College), the right wing 1861 by Edward Hodkinson for 2nd Marquis of Westminster and the front wing built or extended 1876 for the 1st Duke. The Hall immediately behind the Gatehouse (q.v.) may be earlier C19. Red sandstone with roofs of banded shaped tiles. The 2-storey front wing, with 2 bays left of the Gatehouse and 3 right, of Tudor character has battlements, crow-stepped gables and tall chimneys with circular flues on weathered plinths. Windows with concave bevelled mullions and transomes and moulded reveals have large-pane wooden casements. Shaped framed and boarded oak door on ornate wrought iron hinges. The right wing (2 storeys) has 3 stone-fronted gables to half dormers on inner face and 3-storey cross-gabled terminal, left. Four tall ridge chimneys have round flues on weathered plinths. Large-pane timber casements; hollow-bevelled mullions and transomes and double-bevelled reveals. The hall (front wing) has Gothick double doors each of 3 panels, under a moulded arch. Ionic surrounds to 2 inlaid 6-panel doors, left; U-shaped stone stair with square iron balusters and a grooved handrail of hardwood, rear; Ionic colonnades of 2 columns and 2 end pilasters to each storey, right. Over the stairwell is a circular rooflight with 12 radial bars separated by segmental bars at circumference set in a plaster ceiling of square recessed panels.

<2> Peter de Figueiredo (Independent Consultant), 2017, Abbey Gate College VI Form Centre and Science Block, Saighton, Cheshire: Heritage Assessment, R4569 (Client Report). SCH9168.

Heritage assessment produced in 2017 for Abbey Gate College in support of proposed alterations and extension to the VI Form Centre, and an extension to the Science Block. In 1977 the site was acquired by Abbey Gate College for use as a school. New buildings were added during the 1980s, followed later by sports facilities and an arts block.

Before the Conquest, the Manor of Saighton (CHER 1952/1/1) was the property of the secular canons of St Werburgh, Chester. In 1092, when the church became a Benedictine Abbey, Saighton became part of the Abbey’s property. The building was the principal residence of the abbots of Chester and licences to crenellate were granted in 1272 and 1399. All that now survives is the gatehouse built by Abbot Simon Ripley around 1490. Following the Dissolution, the manor passed through several hands until it was acquired by the Grosvenor family of Eaton Hall in the 1840s. The second Marquess of Westminster commissioned the local architect Edward Hodkinson to build a house on the site, keeping only the medieval gateway.

The Tithe map of 1840 shows the site prior to rebuilding, and an illustration from Ormerod’s History of Cheshire, 1819, gives an idea of what remained of the medieval house prior to rebuilding. Work began on the new house in 1861 with the construction of the west wing, followed by the service wing in 1867 and the east wing in 1876. The Ordnance Survey map of 1875 shows the property in approximately its present form. This would have included the chapel to the east of the main building, and the stables shown as a west and north range, with a group of detached, smaller buildings on the east side. Considered stylistically, all these outbuildings were almost certainly designed by Hodkinson, though some features of the chapel suggest that John Douglas may have been involved or otherwise altered the building subsequently. The 1898 Ordnance Survey map indicates that a building had been added to the north of the house, close to the stables and that the stables had been altered so that they formed the present U-shaped plan with its glazed roof over the courtyard. A former staff house attached on the south-east side is also shown, probably designed by John Douglas in 1894-6, who was probably also responsible for remodelling part of the North range.

The VI Form Centre resides in the nineteenth century Stable Block which was converted incrementally to form a refectory and classrooms. The original Stable Block was T-shaped on plan, with a longer arm running north-east. This was designed by Hodkinson in a similar style to the house. It is built of irregular coursed stone with a clay tiled roof , and housed two coaches, loose boxes and stalls on the ground floor with a hay loft above. The single storey element to the south is part of the original building, although it differs in its roof treatment, with hips and timber bargeboards rather than coped gables and stone kneelers. There are a mix of stone mullioned windows, with dressed lintels and relieving arches, and timber casements. The 1898 Ordnance Survey map shows that the stables were altered to form the present U-shaped plan with a short east range and projecting cottage to form a broadly symmetrical plan. The cottage, which is dated on the front elevation 1894 with the Westminster crest, was attached at the south-east corner. The east range is in John Douglas’s characteristic style, mainly in brick with stone dressings and blue diaperwork patterning. After the site was acquired by Abbey Gate College in 1977 various alterations were made to adapt the building for school use.

The Science Block is situated north of the nineteenth century, Grade II Listed house. It is partly contained within the conversion of a small outbuilding, possibly a bothy, together with a single storey addition, erected in the 1980s. The converted element, which is of stone with a patterned tiled roof, was designed by Hodkinson, and is probably contemporary with the first phase of the stables, while the extension is of modern brickwork with a tiled roof and bands of glazing.

<3> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 2016, Initial Archaeological Monitoring, Rapid Evaluation and Recording at Abbey Gate College, Saighton Grange, Cheshire, R3837 (Client Report). SCH7966.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2016 at Abbey Gate College during ground works associated with the construction of a new sports pavilion and associated car park. Seven test pits were machine excavated within the location of the proposed pavilion structure and car park. Where possible these were excavated down to the level of the underlying natural geology. The test pits identified the fills to both a former pond and a field boundary ditch. Post medieval agricultural soils were also encountered. No features, deposits or finds of archaeological significance were encountered.