Building record 19/4/2 - Ince Manor - Monastic Cottages

<1> Historic England, 2011, The National Heritage List for England, 1138810 (Web Site). SCH6528.

Grade I remains of Manor House of Abbey of St Werburgh, including Old Hall and Monastery Cottages. Two rectangular blocks in roughly worked coursed sandstone forming two sides of courtyard (north and east). At least 5 phases of masonry, late C13th onwards.

MONASTERY COTTAGES: Roofless. Formerly range of four, 2- storey late C13th-C14th lodgings, converted to 2 cottages, now derelict. 2- storey remains of tower at west end, with 1st floor room over projecting ground floor lobby. Steeped buttresses integral to building on south and north elevations. Arched round-head, pointed and ogee-head doorways. Crenel and small rectangular windows. Inserted or altered rectangular doorways and windows. Additional one storey coursed sandstone building at east end; for- merly identical block to west. INTERIOR: Within tower, internal stair, now blocked, with Caernarvon arch coving, leading from lobby to possible garderobe at 1st floor. Freestanding partition wall with pointed-arch doorway at 1st floor. Deep splayed corbelled window recesses. Additional inserted openings. Stone corbels to 2nd storey floor. C17th or later fireplace with heavy beam over, to easternmost cottage. Coursed sandstone boundary wall with stone coping, connecting Hall to Monastery cottages.

<2> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Vol 8, p.40 (Report). SCH1934.

<3> Buck N & B, 1727, Print of Ince Manor (Graphic Material). SCH9519.

Print of Ince Manor showing Hall and Monastic Cottages connected by a low wall positioned between the north-west corner of the Hall and east end of the cottages. The cottages are shown with the remains of a row of battlements overgrown with vegetation; the Hall is roofed and intact.

<4> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol 2, p.12-13 (Book). SCH1389.

Ince manor was the property of the secular canons of St. Werburgh at the time of the Domesday Survey. In 1093, Hugh Lupus gave the manor of Ince to the abbot and monks of the Benedictine order residing in St.Werburgh Abbey along with the other estates of the secular canons. The abbey leger book records an agreement between the monks of Stanlaw and St. Werburgh with respect to the mills and fisheries in Tarvin Water, for the upkeep of roads and bridges. In the 22nd year of Richard II, the abbot of St Werburgh was given licence to enkernel or fortify the manor house at Ince, along with his other manor houses at Sutton and Saighton. After the Dissolution, Ince Manor passed into the hands of Sir Richard Cotton. The manor was sold by George Cotton to Sir Hugh Cholmondeley who owned them until 1724, when they were purchased by Sir George Wynne and thereafter the Warings, Robert Peel and Edmund Yates and the Legh family.

In the early 19th century, Ormerod describes the site of the Manor as containing 'rather more than an acre, and was originally defended by a stone wall and a vast moat, hewn in the solid rock: the external wall remains on the south side, and the moat may be traced on the other sides.' He observes that two sides of the building of the quadrangle remain and appear little changed since the engraving by Buck (1727, source 3). The buildings once occupied by the monks (Monastic Cottages) are now used as a farmhouse, and the larger building (Hall) converted to a barn.

<5> Slater F G, 1919, A Cheshire Parish: Being a Short History of Ince (Book). SCH59.

The three chief manor houses of St Werburgh's Abbey were at Ince, Saighton and Little Sutton. Ince, was the largest of the three. Abbot Simon of Whitchurch entertained Edward I there in August 1277 when he stayed two nights at Ince on his way back from laying a foundation stone at Vale Royal Abbey. Also, in 1278, he stayed one night at Ince during another trip to Vale Royal. In 1323, Edward II stayed at Ince whilst travelling from Liverpool to Halton Castle. In 1399, Henry de Sutton, nineteenth abbot of Chester, obtained a royal licence to 'enkernel' or fortify the three principal manor houses of Ince, Little Sutton and Saighton due to local and national unrest.

Slater describes Ince Manor as 'a highly interesting group of buildings'. Considering the southern elevation of the cottages, he comments on the three massive buttresses which divide the building into three. He also observes that the building has changed in the hundred years since the 1727 Buck print which depicts the cottages with the remains of a row of battlements and string course below, both of which have since disappeared. Also depicted in the print is a staircase leading from the courtyard to an elevated doorway at the east end of the building, Slater observes that the staircase no longer exists and the doorway is now blocked. One of the doors of the central double doorway into the building is now blocked, the other gives access to one of the two cottages. At the west end of the building is a low tower, the upper part of which has been cut down to the level of the cottage roof which has been enlarged to cover it. The back of the building also is supported by buttresses. The windows and arches resemble those of the church tower and may be attibuted to 'that great builder', Simon Ripley (23rd Abbot, 1485-1493).

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ47NW3 (Index). SCH2487.

OS field investigator site visit, 20/02/1976. Comments include that the Hall is in use as a barn and the Monastery Cottages are roofless and in an advance state of decay. Both are built of squared, red sandstone blocks. The lower half of the hall predates the upper half, which is rebuilt and better preserved, and which includes on the NE side, four large square-headed mullioned and transomed stone windows of prob E 16th century date beneath arches. The windows have been blocked up with brick and gable ends are built of brick with a modern roof over. The domestic range of four dwellings has late or modern inserted windows and doors but also retains several 14th century stone pointed-headed doorways.

<7> Davey P & Williams R, 1975, Ince Manor, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin, Vol 3, p.24-26 (Article in Journal). SCH7546.

Field investigation undertaken at Ince Manor in 1975 which highlighted the significance of the remains, only three sites in England have more complex structures than those at Ince. The buildings - a hall and domestic range - are described as substantially complete and it is clear that they both are multi-period dating from the late thirteenth century onwards. The survey also identified further elements of the grange, including the potential of a third range of buildings (CHER 14/9/9), a possible lynchet to the north of the cottages (CHER 14/9/10) that may represent an earlier boundary for the grange, a stone enclosing wall to the south and north (CHER . 14/9/3), traces of the moat (CHER 14/9/4) and a former fishpond (CHER 14/9/5).

<8> Thompson, P, 1983, Ince Manor: Medieval Monastic Buildings on the Mersey Marshes (Monograph). SCH1474.

Study (1983), including building survey and documentary research for Ince Manor. The Monastery Cottages, one of the best preserved example of lodgings in the country, was believed to comprise formerly four separate chambers which were later converted into two cottages. Lodgings were usually used for monks of laymen living on the grange, but at Ince, one of the most important of St Werburgh's manors, it appears to have been used for guests, including royalty.

It is a two storey building with cellars. Largely of one build, probably of a mid 14th century date and possibly on the site of an earlier building. There is an added/altered internal stair in a block at the west end. Previously, it had a later one storey block at each end, but only that at the east remains. When converted to cottages, some windows were altered and some maybe added. At the time of survey, there was no roof with the timbers removed in recent years. Several masons' marks were recorded within the cottages.

<9> Department of Archaeology, University of Liverpool, 1994, Ince Manor, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire: Building Survey (DRAFT), R2316, Jennifer Lewis (Client Report). SCH3937.

Historical research and detailed building survey (including photogrammetric record) of Ince Manor hall and monastic cottages in 1994 by Dr Jennifer Lewis, prior to proposed repair and renovation. Lewis supports the theory that Ince operated more as a manorial holding, offering hospitality, rather than a grange estate managed by lay-brothers.

The cottages are rectangular in plan and two-storeyed, with a stair passage and garderobes attached to the west end. With doors at ground and first floor levels at both east and west elevations, the building was clearly formerly linked to others which no longer exist. In their original form, they appear to have contained three unheated rooms at ground level; the narrow windows indicated that these may have been used for storage. Above these were probably two well-lit rooms separated by a wooden partition, the western room had a fireplace. Later modifications include the stair passage, a mastonry partition, further fireplaces and access to garderobes. In all, the arrangement provides a suite of lodgings entered from the courtyard via a flight of stairs. With the Hall, the buildings were able to accommodate a large number of people, indicating that rather than representing a grange attached to abbatial desmesne, they were a place reserved for hospitality.

In addition to detailed analysis of the standing buildings, the study highlighted evidence for former structures, associated with the Hall and cottages, within the Ince Manor complex. These include the base of a wall running southwards from the cottage annexe; a possible two-storeyed building adjoining the west wall of the cottage stair passage evidenced by a stub wall running from the north-west corner of the cottages in line with a low mastonry wall which runs up to and around the boundary of the adjoining property; at the north-west corner of the cottages a return in the plinth course may be associated with the base of the garderobe; further structures may have existed against the north wall of the cottages; at the south-west corner of the Hall there is evidence for the arrangement of a cross-wall and door associated with the cross-passage and kitchen quarters; additionally, there is little doubt that one or more two-storeyed buildings stood at the north-east corner of the site between the cottages and the north wall of the Hall.

<10> National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, 2000, An Archaeological Evaluation at Ince Manor and Monastery Cottages, Ince, Cheshire, R2322 (Client Report). SCH3929.

An archaeological evaluation comprising geophysical survey and 19 trial trenches was carried out in 2000 in advance of the restoration of Ince Manor, a group of medieval buildings. Although some evidence was found for the walls of buildings which once stood next to the Hall, little evidence was found for intact archaeological deposits. Some features were found cutting into bedrock, these could be relatively early, but no dating evidence was found. A few fragments of medieval pottery were recovered but these were present in eighteenth century or later deposits. A single piece of Roman pottery was also found.

<11> National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, 2001, An Archaeological Excavation at Ince Manor and Monastery Cottages, Ince, Cheshire., R2395 (Client Report). SCH4225.

Further excavation was undertaken in 2001; it was restricted to two metre strips along the wall of the manor and two test pits. Post-medieval deposits were excavated and medieval pottery was found near the bottom of the test pits.

<12> Donald Insall Associates, 1995, Ince Manor Grange: A Feasibility Study, R4730 (Client Report). SCH7528.

Feasibility study produced for Ince Manor Grange prior to repair and reuse of the buildings.

<13> Cheshire Historic Buildings Preservation Trust, Ince Manor Grange (Web Site). SCH9518.

A programme of repair and restoration of the Hall and Monastic Cottages at Ince Manor began in 2002, with funding largely from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The north-west corner of the cottages required rebuilding as it was in such poor repair, each stone was removed, recorded and rebuilt. Oak trusses salvaged from site were pieced together to form the new roof structure to the cottages, this was covered in Welsh slate. Floors and doors were reinstated in oak.

<14> Nottingham Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory, 2014, Certification of the age of some old oak timbers from Ince Grange, Cheshire, R3880 (Client Report). SCH8035.

Dendrochronological dating was undertaken in 2014 of 2 pieces of oak beam removed from Ince Manor during or prior to restoration works in the 2000s. Two samples were examined - a light oak sample and a dark oak sample. The light oak is likely to have been felled sometime between AD 1612-37 and the dark oak between AD 1535-60. Both samples had the centre ring (ie., the first growth ring the tree put on) and so can define which year they started growing. For the light oak sample this was in 1498 and for the dark oak sample, 1440.