Building record 15940 - The Old Glass House, Whitchurch Road, Christleton

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 404194 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

House: early eighteenth century but extended and partly remodelled mid nineteenth century. Flemish bond orange brick, Welsh slate M-shaped roof and four chimneys with stone copings and octagonal Tudor-style pots. Two-storey, four-bay front. Raised band at first floor. Nearly central two-storey gabled porch with pointed finial, with added lower timber porch with open truss, in front of four-board door and fanlight. Two-light window with sash in each light above. Similar two and three-light windows to either side and twelve-pane sash at left end. Parallel range added to rear; Interior: not inspected.

<2> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 172/2 c.1849 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

This map depicts a building at this location with two smaller buildings to the rear. The map suggests that the building may be sub-divided into two. The plot is described as house and maltkiln.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ4365, 1875 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts the house, labelled 'Glass House' with outbuildings to the rear and gardens to the west. The gardens include a circular summerhouse.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ4365, 1899 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

As previously depicted, but the gardens aren't detailed and the house is labelled 'The Limes'.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ4365, 1911 (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

As previously depicted, but the gardens are partially depicted as an orchard. The house is labelled 'Red House'. The outbuildings to the rear are no longer extant.

<6> Nicholson, R, 2000-2023, Christleton, The Old Hall (Web Site). SCH9367.

Formerley an inn.

<7> Ogilby J, 1675, Britannia Atlas, Plate 23 (Maps and Plans). SCH2109.

The Glass House is depicted on this map on the outskirts of Chester.

<8> Bryant, A., 1831, Map of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH2114.

Depicted and labelled on this map as the 'Glass House'.

<9> Chester Archaeology, Various, Chester Archaeology Site Notes: Various, GTB/60WHR08 (Written Communication). SCH6729.

Observations made on a buried wall in the garden of the Glass House. The wall was c.800mm high, built of sandstone, and dug into the subsoil. The base of the wall comprised sandstone rubble foundation with pieces of handmade brick, overlain by a course of flat sandstone slabs, and topped by coping stones with a triangular cross section. The wall was entirely buried and was interpreted as a low garden wall.

Noted that the Glass House had an ‘interesting’ sandstone cellar with a brick vault of ‘earlier bricks’ which would benefit from further investigation.

<10> Bagshaw S, 1850, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the County Palatine of Chester, p.123 (Book). SCH383.

Inns and Taverns in Christleton: Old Glass House, Jno. [John] Harding.

<11> Highlight Heritage, 2024, The Old Glass House, Christleton: Heritage Statement, R4820 (Client Report). SCH9732.

Desk-based assessment and photographic record produced in 2024 for the Glass House. The fact that the Glass House is recorded on John Ogilby's map of 1675 indicates that it was an inn of notirety and status. It lay on the road from London to Holyhead. As well as an inn, it was a meeting place for funerals being the first inn outside the city boundary. There are reports of distinguished people including the Lord Bishop and Mayor & Corporation gathering at the Glass House to accompany the body of a notable person into the city to be buried at the Cathedral. The tithe map shows the Glass House as a 'house and maltkin' indicating that beer was brewed there. In 1853, the Glass House was being auctioned and assets listed included a shippon, stable, outbuildings, garden, malt kiln and cottage to the rear. It is described as having an extended frontage to the turnpike road. The Chester to Whitchurch Turnpike Trust opened in 1759 and closed in 1877, so the closure of the Glass House as an inn could be related to the cessation of the turnpike. It appears that the building was added to and re-modelled in the nineteenth century. By the 1899 OS Map, the inn has become a residential property and renamed 'The Limes'.