Building record 1433/1 - Spittle House

Spittle House (west range only),Bollin Grove. Formerly part of monastic leper hospital,now part of a house,perhaps C14 with C17 & C20 repairs. The hospital was managed by St Werburgh's Abbey,Chester,who held the parish of Prestbury,and is a remarkable survival of a timber framed monastic building of a simple plan and construction. Timber framed on a sandstone plinth. Stone-slate roof. Rectangular plan of two bays. East front has 10 x 2 tall rectangular panels with angle bracing of the wall plate. Interior: Three pairs of elbow crucks with a tie beam,two tall Queen posts,a collar and a small triangular yoke. Wind braced through purlins and ridge. The south bay appears to have been open to the roof and the ridge shows evidence of burning. The north bay was of two storeys,there being slots for the joists in the tie beams and a rebated doorcase between the Queen posts. The jambs of the crucks are chamfered. Full architectural description (1). Gastrell refers to a priory at Prestbury 'the foundations of which have oft been discovered' and grounds with the name of Abbot's-hay and Abbot's-hay-bank (2). Ormerod records that in 1606/7 one Laurence Upton was seized in fee of a messuage and lands in Prestbury, called 'Le Spittal House'. Confirmation of Gastrell's suggestion of a priory is found in 17thC Plea Rolls, where 'Robt de Aula' is called Prior of the Church of Prestbury in 133?.A priory may have existed for a short period in connection with the church, under Chester Abbey (3). There are no visible foundations of a 2nd building at the Spittle House, but the owner reported cobbled surfaces & a stone plinth revealed when digging in the back garden.No pottery was recovered.2 large pits reported at SJ895777 & SJ896775, may be leper burial pits, but unsubstantiated (4).

<1> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /5/182 (Report). SCH1934.

<2> Gastrell F, 1845-1850, Notitia Cestriensis, or historical notices of the diocese of Chester, Gastrell F 18451/85 (Article in Journal). SCH2290.

<3> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 3/647 (Book). SCH1389.

<4> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Turner R C (Oral Communication). SCH2330.