Monument record 1133 - Site of Bostock House, Moat and Ancilliary Buildings

<1> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, 3/296 1882 (Book). SCH1389.

Bostock Hall . "The hall from which this estate derives its name, is a farm house, containing within its walls some portions of an antient masion, which was defended by a moat of which a part is remaining" .

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1881-2, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2474.

Three arms of the moat are shown on the 1st edition 6 inch OS map (c.1875).

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1911-1914, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH3843.

On the 3rd edition, (c.1910) only one arm of the moat is depicted.

<4> Wilson D et al, 1973-1986, Moated Sites Research Group Records (Paper Archive). SCH2205.

<5> Earwaker J P, 1890, History of the Ancient Parish of Sandbach, p.125 (Book). SCH1431.

<6> Anthony Walker and Partners, 1993, M6 Junctions 16-20 Widening: Archaeological Desk-Top Survey, R2048 (i); Appendix 1/1 page 34 (Client Report). SCH4305.

Desk-based assessment produced in 1994 in advance of a scheme to widen the M6 motorway. Bostock House moated site is listed and described as a hall and moat of post medieval date with potential medieval origins. The house and moat are visible on historical mapping dating to 1829, the Hassall Tithe map of 1841 and on first edition 25" Ordnance Survey historical mapping (1872). It is described as a large building on the east side of Dunnocksfold Road with ponds (the moat) to the north and south which partially encircle the house. A long rectangular range of buildings is located on the west side of the road with a house attached at the southern end. Two other buildings lie just to the north on either side of the road. The OS 1909 25" map shows no evidence of the house or the northern pond although the southern pond remains. The long range to the west is depicted although the adjoining house had disappeared; another parallel range has been added to the west and the two northern buildings either side of the road are also still present. On the tithe apportionment the field to the north of the house is named 'Pidgeon House Croft' suggesting the site of a dovecote. The current Bostock House lie to the west of the road with no signs of the moat and old house surviving.

<7> Anthony Walker and Partners, 1994, M6 Widening: Junctions 16-20. Report on Earthwork Survey (Client Report). SCH4294.

Following on from the 1994 desk-based assessment, a topographic survey of the field containing the site of Bostock House and moat was undertaken, also in 1994, in advance of the upgrade to the M6 motorway. At the south of the field, close to the site of the house and moat, slight banks were recorded and are thought to potentially relate to the now in-filled moat or possibly a boundary. To the north of these a low earthwork platform was observed, defined by a bank circa 70m long and standing to a height of 0.5m. On the 1841 Hassall tithe map, this field is named 'Pigeon House Croft', suggesting the possible site of a dovecote, however, no building is depicted on this map of the 1882 OS first edition map. There is a second potential platform in the same field, along with the remains of a possible pond.

<8> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

As identified by source 6, 'Bostock House', moat and several ancilliary buildings are depicted on the Tithe Map for Hassall (source 9). The moat, the main house and two other buildings are located to the east of Dunnocksfold Road, with three buildings on the west side of the road. Bostock House is located on the moat platform encircled by two crescent-shaped areas of moat, one to the south, the other to the north. There is also a smaller area of water to the north-east which may indicate that the moat once formed a more or less continuous circuit around the hall, with a potential entrance to the south-west. The owner of hall recorded on the tithe apportionment is Mr Joseph Lea and the occupier, Thomas Beech; the plot, number 254, is labelled 'House Croft'. Plots immediately adjacent to the house and also owned by Joseph Lea, include plot 253 'Garden Croft Orchard', 252 'Moor Meadow', 231 'Liddion Field', 232 'Pidgeon House Croft', 255 'Pump Croft'. An area of trees, potentially an orchard, appears immediately to the south-west of the house and moat, although no details for this particular plot are recorded on the tithe apportionment.

The house, north and south crescents of the moat, and all the ancillary buildings are depicted on the Ordnance Survey first edition 25" map, 1872-82 (source 10). The situation is largely unchanged on the second edition, 1896-8, (source 11), although the northern crescent of the moat may now be dry, or filled, as trees are depicted within its bounds, there is also an additional building depicted at the far west of the complex. However, by the time of the third edition map, 1909-12, (source 12) the house itself has disappeared as have some of the ancilliary buildings; the northern crescent of moat is no longer depicted although the southern is still present though smaller.

The earthwork survey produced in 1994 in advance of the M6 widening (source 7) identified earthworks in the south of the field which correspond to the site of the former hall and moat and it is possible that sub-surface remains relating to these features still exist. The survey also identified a pond at the eastern extent of the surveyed field. This pond, and an associated ditch leading south-westwards to the moat, are clearly visible on photographs dating to the 1940s (source 12). On the photographs a ditch also leads from the pond north-eastwards to a stream, although this is now no longer visible due to the motorway. Potentially the ditch served as an overflow drain from the moat. The 'platform' identified by the 1994 survey in the north of the field is also, in part, visible on the 1940s photographs, as a ditch delineating the southern extent of the platform. It appears plausible, looking at the pattern of other boundaries and fields close by, that the ditch may represent a former field boundary, although it is not depicted on the tithe map or earlier Ordnance Survey mapping.

<9> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

<10> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<11> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

<12> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

<13> Royal Air Force, 1944-1947, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH8041.