Building record 214/1 - Haslington Hall

<1> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England, 1136283 (Web Site). SCH6528.

Mansion, late fifteenth century with sixteenth, seventeenth and nineteenth century alterations and additions. Timber framing and brickwork with slate roof. two storeys, six bays, gabled timber framed areas have chevron treatment and quatrefoils in the early Elizabethan style. The only ungabled bay is set back and has oak front door on large strap hinges. Replaced oak mullion and transom windows with leaded lozenge casements. Eaves mainly cove jettied with shaped quatrefoils. The east gable is of seventeenth century brickwork with flush stone quoins. The roof is laid in diminished courses. The south elevation of the house is mainly of brickwork.

Interior: fifteenth century moulded beams and flat ceiling joists, framed ceiling of heavy section bevelled beams. Tudor timber and stone door heads. Early open well stair with solid beam treads. Moulded cambered collar trusses in former open hall area. Very large principal rafters and collar trusses with cusped wind braces. Roof framed without ridge. Old boarded doors, seventeenth century panelling in the west end of the house.

<2> de Figueiredo P & Treuherz J, 1988, Cheshire Country Houses, p.238 (Book). SCH785.

A large timber framed house, the home to the Vernon family until 1700. the core is a late fifteenth century great hall from which remain the collared roof with cusped wind braces, now in the attic, and the arches od the screens passage. It was refaced and enlarged in the late sixteenth century by the addition of the two cross wings with their showy timber framing, probably for Sir Thomas Vernon. Ormerod says that the present Hall is one side of a quadrangular building, but there is no clear evidence to support this view. On the east side is a large seventeenth century brick service wing. Twentieth century extensions, half-timbered in imitation of the original, confuse the earlier form of the house, but the new entrance gable and the rear bay window are skilful additions built for Col. Humphrey Watts who restored the house in the 1920s.

<3> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.392 (Book). SCH7059.

A large, very attractive timber framed house. Several gables, and apart from herringbone bracing, quatrefoil and cusped concave-sided lozenges. Coved eaves with quatrefoils. The southern side was largely built away in brick, probably in the early nineteenth century. The earliest, western part is a hall-and-cross-wing house of c.1480-1520. The high west wing is distinguished by the taller roof and cove quatrefoils. An account by Nicolas Cooper suggests that the east wing came first, followed by the central range which seems to have been built from the first as a single storey hall with a great chamber over, remarkable at so early a date. The place was enlarged in the seventeenth by Sir Thomas Vernon, or perhaps his son George. A service block of brick with stone quoins was attached to the (low-end) east wing, incorporating a hatch serving a parlour or dining room formed from the original east wing services. Extensive repairs took place in 1931, with provision of a full-height bay built out from the parlour, south side and other additions and alterations. [Nicolas Cooper is an architectural historian and was an architectural investigator for the RCHME. His account is not referenced].

<4> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol III, P. 319 (Book). SCH1389.

Vernons of Haslington…their later mansion stands in a sequestered situation, east of the village. It has been quadrangular and moated, but one side of the original building is remaining, partly brick and partly ornamented timber-work, with large windows and projecting upper stories. The centre of this side has been occupied by a large apartment, which from the arrangement of doors at the east end of it, apparently leading to the former kitchens and buttery, may be safely supposed to have been the Hall, but local tradition asserts it to have been a domestic chapel. The Hall is still standing, and is occupied as a farmhouse.

<5> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 3rd Series Vol XIV, p.42-3 [3362] (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

The Hall is well sheltered by trees and approached along a bye-lane. The present building is the northern wing originally a large quadrangular sixteenth century moated mansion, belonging to a branch of the Vernon family. On the northern front there are three projecting gables, two of which, together with the connecting main building, are fine specimens of black and white half-timbered architecture, with projecting upper storeys, but with modernised windows. The third gable, which is the most easterly-one, is built of brick with sandstone quoins. The southern front is of old mellowed brick and has a large bay, and it appears to have been re-fronted when the dimensions of the old house were reduced.

The entrance hall possesses a good oak staircase and some fine panelling, but much, if not all of the latter, is of quite recent date. There are two staircases in other parts of the house, but it is said to contain no traces of dates, initials, heraldry, or anything of special interest. The domestic chapel of the Vernon family is supposed to have been situated within the present remnant of the old hall, some locating it in the east gable, and others in the present entrance hall. Ormerod writes on this subject as follows:

"The centre of this side [i.e., the north side] has been occupied by a large apartment, which from the arrangement of doors at the end of it, apparently leading to the former kitchens and buttery, may be safely supposed to have been the Hall, but local tradition asserts it to have been a domestic chapel." See (4).

No trace of the moat remains.

<6> Ould E.A. & Parkinson J., 1904, Old Cottages, Farm Houses, and Other Half-timber Buildings in Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Cheshire, p.38, plate XCIX (Book). SCH2325.

The old farm near Alsager, Haslington Hall, is a fine genuine example in a by-lane, and quite rewarded us for the long hunt we had before it was unearthed.

<7> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ 75 NW (M) (Index). SCH2487.

Sixteenth century remains (see 5).

<8> Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Various, Great British Life, Cheshire 09/05/2023 (Web Site). SCH9753.

Constructed c.1480 as a replacement for the original hall. The north-face of the hall is reputed reassembled from the timbers of the original hall. The left hand gabled side was added in brick in the 1500s, followed by the right hand gable, which is reputedly constructed from the timbers of wrecked Spanish ships from the Armada. Damaged by fire in 2018 and subsequently restored.

<9> Fletcher Moss, 1901, Pilgrimages in Cheshire & Shropshire, Vol.VII, p.107 (Book). SCH2638.

<10> Various, Various, Cheshire Life, May 1955, January 1957 (Journal/Periodical). SCH837.

<11> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 19/02/2025 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

For the supposed site of the medieval hall see CHER 214/0/1.