Building record 1072 - Cotton Hall

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1231500 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Formerly farmhouse, now private house. Late fifteenth century origins with late seventeenth century alterations and nineteenth and twentieth century additions. Red brick and plaster infilled timber framing with tile roof. Two storeys and attic, five bays, gabled. The east gable has softwood planted timbers covering oak timbers in the same arrangement, this is small framing with decorative panel infilling and vase shaped studs in late seventeenth century style. Raking bressummer, at first floor, carved in continuous diamond motif arid flanked by consoles with female heads with ruffs. Jettied gable flanked by carved consoles. Two-light ground floor window with original wrought iron casements, on gudgeons, and lead lattice glazing. Replaced three-light flush casement, with lattice glazing, at first floor. The west gable-end is of old bricks with two-course-deep bands at first floor and eaves. Pair of bolection-moulded four-panel oak doors in heavy chamfered frame. There is a French window with wing lights and leaded glazing and at first floor level three replaced two-light cross windows with leaded glazing and stone sills. There is a blocked window in the gable and the gables have barge boards. At the rear the north-east gable has timbers showing above a full length lean-to. Large twentieth additions rear north-west. High standing stacks flank both north facing gables.

Interior: Timbers in internal walls including deep ground sill; moulded mullion window in former external wall. Tudor arch shaped heads in timber framing. Deep heavily moulded girding beam. Massive octagonal posts. Ogee moulded, large girth frame members. Inglenook. Deep bevelled floor beams and flat stop-chamfered mediaeval ceiling joists. Main truss moulded posts with "T" shaped section and moulded capping. The fifteenth century trusses in the attic are at right angles to the seventeenth century external gables. There is an arched braced truss with moulded canted tie beam and curved braces and an intermediate collar truss with long curved braces. Deep wall plates, massive jowls, at tops of posts, studs in walls widely spaced without rails. Original purlins with wind braces, wide boarded attic door on "H" hinges.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ 76 NW 18 (Index). SCH2487.

(SJ 74776739) Cotton Hall (NAT). See (3). [OS 6" 1971].

Cotton Hall is an early seventeenth century two storey timber framed building with attic. A red brick extension has been added on the western end of the hall. Grade II*. See (4). [NG 07/01/1980].

As described. [WDC 09/12/1986].

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1959-1982, National Grid Imperial Second Revision (Epoch i7) 6 inch to 1 mile, SJ 76 NW 17, 1971 (Maps and Plans). SCH9682.

<4> Department of the Environment, 1964, Department of the Environment (HHR), Congleton Rural District, Cheshire Oct 1964 10 (Report). SCH9680.

<5> University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, 1998, Cotton Hall, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire: An Archaeological Assessment of the Medieval East Wing, R2236 (Client Report). SCH4007.

An appraisal of the East wing of Cotton Hall was undertaken in 1998. The Hall is at least fourteenth century in origin. It originated as a manorial site with a central open hall flanked by solar and servants’ quarters. The decoration on the spere truss and on the open arch-braced truss, with its canted moulded tie beam, is of high order and comparable with manorial halls in Greater Manchester and Sutton Hall in Sutton Weaver. In the later sixteenth century, the open hall was substantially rebuilt, and the hall buildings were extended. A ceiling was inserted in the open hall and a jettied, two storey, timber-framed, cross wing added. From the seventeenth century onwards status of the hall declined, culminating in the sale of the estate, and the hall becoming a farm. The spere truss has been dendro-dated with an estimated felling date of AD 1325-1335.

<6> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol.III p.125-6 (Book). SCH1389.

Documentary reference to the Hall of Cotton c.1620. Details subsequent sales. Describes Cotton Hall as an ancient timber mansion occupied by a farmer.

<7> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.402 (Book). SCH7059.

Sixteenth or seventeenth century timber framed house jettied at first floor.

<8> York Archaeological Trust, 2013, Land at Middlewich Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire East: Desk-Based Assessment, p.9 (Client Report). SCH7010.

Originally from the late fifteenth century, it underwent alterations in the late seventeenth century and had additions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The hall is a two-storey building with an attic, five bays, and east and west gables, constructed of red brick and plaster-infilled timber framing with a slate roof. Recent archaeological studies have revealed that the medieval east wing dates back to the early fourteenth century, with some timber dating to the first half of that century. The hall likely originated as a manorial site in the early thirteenth century, featuring an open central hall flanked by a solar and servants’ quarters. Significant features include a medieval decorated spere truss and a decorated arch-braced truss.