Building record 235/1/2 - Delves Hall or Doddington Castle

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, RPM 1978 SJ74NW4 (Index). SCH2487.

Doddington Castle or Delves Hall is a towerhouse of a larger mansion which Sir John Delves obtained licence to crenellate 1365 or by his great nephew John Delves in 1403. It is strictly the pele tower of a fortified manor of a type found in the Borders & in the Welsh Marshes (eg The Tower, Leeswood, Clwyd)

<2> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Report). SCH1934.

3 storey tower has battlemented parapet with corner towers. Windows are C19 lancets but in Gothic style. Applied to the exterior is a Jacobean imperial staircase with pierced balustrade, supported by figures of the Black Prince, Audley & the four Cheshire Squires (incl John Delves), famous at Battle of Poitiers. Staircase taken from earlier Doddington Hall which incorporated the tower. It was a Jacobean mansion taken down c.1777 when the new hall was built. Barrel vaulted ground floor room with blocked staircase to right of S window embrasure. Similar arrangement at 1st floor level (2).

<3> Public Record Office, 1932, Black Prince's Register, 3/ (Book). SCH401.

<4> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, /198-9 (Book). SCH3078.

The Castle which now stands like a great big eye catcher in a field below and to the N of the Hall, licence to crennelate was obtained by Sir John Delves in 1365 or by John Delves in 1403. It is not a castle strictly speaking, rather a North Country tower house. It has the typical embattled corner turrets and the typical tunnel vaulted ground floor, below the stage of the doorway. Doorway is now reached by an outer staircase with a Jacobean balustrade and statues of the Black Prince, Audley and his four squires. The balustrading and the statues cone from the porch of the Doddington Hall which preceded the present one and which, according to old illustrations, must have been a C17 building.

<5> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, 1988 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

Fenestration of tower altered to make more interesting eyecatcher from C18 house. Site of former C18 house clearly visible as a platform by the tower

<7> de Figueiredo P & Treuherz J, 1988, Cheshire Country Houses, /72-76 (Book). SCH785.

The Tower house is a pele tower, a type of fortified house with a vaulted chamber at the base. On the east side an elaborate staircase and loggia are attached, remnants of the 17th century Doddington Hall, a moated courtyard house which was demolished when the new Doddington Hall was built in the 18th century.

<8> Nicholson S, 1995, Doddington Hall Gardens: a brief historical outline (Unpublished Document). SCH1058.

Survey by J Probert in 1762 shows tower to the west of & attached to a large courtyard house. The north west view of the hall shows the tower covered in foliage, attached to the west. The porch on the north west front contains the statues of the Cheshire knights which were removed when the hall was demolished and placed in front of the tower. The south east view of the hall shows the tower clearly & battlements and windows can be seen

<9> Bird S et al, 1996, A Late Sixteenth-century Garden; fact or fantasy. The Portrait of Sir George Delves, 167-183 (Article in Journal). SCH1256.

research into the formal Tudor garden and building featured in the background of a 16th century portrait. Possible connection with Doddington Hall is examined.

<10> English Heritage, Descheduling notification, 1997 (Y) (Written Communication). SCH1042.

Tower descheduled in 1997