Building record 146/1/2 - Crossley Hall Farm, Peover Lane, Buglawton

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 55915 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Restored. Timber frame with some wattle and daub but mainly with restored brick infilling and some sham painted timber frame; two storeys; windows eighteenth and nineteenth century casements with forked glazing bars; central doorway with oak iron-studded doors hung on wrought iron strap hinges; gabled ends, each with massive stone chimney having restored brick stacks; old stone slates. Ground storey has good moulded ceiling beams. Probably once the hall of a subordinate manor to Buglawton.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, White J H 1964 SJ86SE14 (Index). SCH2487.

Ordnance Survey 6 inch to one mile map 1954 (see 4). [J.H.W. 05/05/1964].

The hall, now used as a farm, is of half-timbered work stated to date from the fifteenth century (see 3). [B.R.S. 03/10/1962].

Crossley Hall is not architecturally outstanding. See G.P. AO/64/8/2. [J.H. White F.I. 05/05/1964].

<3> North Staffordshire Field Club, 1917-60, Transactions of the North Staffordshire Field Club, 66 (1931-2) 197 (Anon) (Journal/Periodical). SCH3533.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1948-1977, National Grid Imperial First Editions (Epoch i5) 6 inch to 1 mile, SJ86SE 1954 (Maps and Plans). SCH9391.

<5> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.191 (Book). SCH7059.

Probable seventeenth century timber framed building. Slightly jettied cross wings with large external chimney stacks. Close studded timber framing with larger panels in the gables. Eighteenth century casements.

<6> John K Carter Architect, 2009, Crossley Hall, Peover Lane, Buglawton, Congleton Photographic Schedule (Client Report). SCH6647.

Photographic record of the interior from 2009.

<7> Demaus Building Diagnostics Ltd, 2013, Building Assessment. Crossley Hall, Peover Lane, Buglawton, Cheshire (Client Report). SCH9414.

The construction and subsequent history of Crossley Hall is a somewhat contradictory puzzle. On the one hand, much of the building has survived relatively unaltered. On the other hand, much of the evidence that is identifiable, suggests quite a complex and unconventional constructional and early history. It is possible that elements of the building predate the late sixteenth century. There is significant deformation and dislocation in the timber frames due to a combination of ground movement, structural movement, and degradation.

<8> Architectural History Practice, 2012, Crossley Hall Heritage Statement and Significance Assessment (Client Report). SCH9413.

Crossley Hall conforms to a hall-and-cross-wing plan, a standard type for houses of the gentry and wealthier classes. The details of the plan are unusual; the smaller central hall is flanked on each side with wings which project slightly forward to the west and is entered by a door which is offset to the north. The wings on each side are divided at ground-floor level into a principal room, the kitchen (north) and the parlour (south) with smaller rooms at the rear of each. This is an unusual arrangement in a house of this type and seems to reflect the emergence of a double-pile plan.

At upper level a partition in the central room forms a passageway, allowing the southernmost room to be entered without going through the middle bedroom. The use of corridors is rare before about 1600 and is a refinement typically associated with seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses. A shaped door head from the entrance hall suggests the present stair is in the original position. Although the attic spaces were used as rooms, there is no evidence for a stair.

There is evidence that the building of the hall proceeded incrementally, or that changes were made during construction, since the wings differ from one another, and parts of the roof structure have been altered.

In the eighteenth or early nineteenth century a rear extension was added, probably as a kitchen. In the nineteenth or twentieth century the entrance hall was subdivided. The rear wall was rebuilt in brick in the twentieth century. The windows almost entirely replacements, and most are of twentieth century date. Those on the front elevation are early nineteenth century in character and utilise crown glass, which is usually associated with dates before 1830. The roof slates are replacements of the stone flags described in the 1950 listed building description.

<9> Ashworth Walker Architects, 2021, Crossley Hall, Peover Lane, Congleton. Building Record - Volume I Elemental Record of Building Prior to Extension, Reordering and Refurbishment (Client Report). SCH9409.

<10> Ashworth Walker Architects, 2021, Crossley Hall, Peover Lane, Congleton. Building Record - Volume 2 Methodology and Process for Extension, Reordering and Refurbishment (Client Report). SCH9410.

<11> Ashworth Walker Architects, 2021, Crossley Hall, Peover Lane, Congleton. Building Record - Volume 3 Extension, Reordering and Refurbishment Work - Progress on Site to Completion (Client Report). SCH9411.