Building record 1404/2/1 - The Old Hall, Nether Alderley

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1139591 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Manor house: early-mid seventeenth century for Sir Thomas Stanley II with earlier fragments and addition and alterations of 1912 by Edmund Warre of London; English garden wall bond red brick with some purple bands. Buff sandstone dressings, Kerridge stone-slate roof and three brick chimneys, two with diamond shaped end stacks. Rectangular plan. Two and three-storey, three-bay south front. Projecting stone band at first floor. Central bay of three-storeys has rebated five-light chamfered stone mullioned windows in ground and first storey and similar three-light under a hood mould in a stone-coped and ball finialled gable. To left is a bead moulded stone doorcase with a cambered lintel and a three-light window above. To right is a twentieth century door. Additions in ashlar to west are of 1912. Interior: Main room has light oak wainscotting (probably 1912) and two-panelled doors with large diamonds in each panel. Heavy chamfered ceiling beams. Remainder of interior unexceptional. What survives is an addition to the earliest hall of sixteenth century. A major Baroque front of 1754 was destroyed by fire in 1779 and demolished and this led to the building of the now demolished Alderley Park. The Old Hall stands in a decorative moat made by adding an arm to the mill pond in the late sixteenth century.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ87 NW 12 (Index). SCH2487.

<3> Norbury, W, 1885, Chorley Hall and Other Buildings in its Neighbourhood, p.112 (Article in Journal). SCH8409.

'…The site of Alderley Old Hall, burn't down a hundred years back and not rebuilt…'

<4> de Figueiredo P & Treuherz J, 1988, Cheshire Country Houses, p.20-22 (Book). SCH785.

‘… part of an early seventeenth-century house built by Sir Thomas Stanley, the second baronet, which was later extended and then severely damaged by fire in 1779. Besides the house he built the stone bridge over the moat a new stable block, extensive walled gardens, and a pigeon house known now as the Apple House, all or which remain……… In the eighteenth century the house was transformed. In front of the Hall was as placed a three-storey rectangular block with a piano nobile and a high parapet. In the centre a giant order without an entablature gave prominence to the new entrance. According to Lysons the date was 1754, but illustrations show a huge Baroque front more in the style of the very early eighteenth century…..The new house did not last long. In 1779 it was utterly destroyed by fire….All that now remains from this important period of building is a rusticated stone pier close to the road…’

<5> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1995, Historic Building Report: Old Hall, Nether Alderley (Report). SCH8408.

‘…The Old Hall, formerly the seat of the Stanley family, occupies a moated site and is built predominantly of brick with roofs of graduated stone slates. The earliest identifiable phase is a two-storeyed L-shaped structure, probably dating from the mid to late sixteenth century, which may originally have formed part of a larger building. Although extensively altered, the range retains three original trusses: an open truss consisting of principal rafters and a cambered collar; and two closed trusses each consisting of a tie-beam, principal rafters and two raked struts.

In the early seventeenth century a large brick-built addition of two storeys plus attics was constructed on the east side of the L-shaped range. This provided the principal rooms of the refurbished house, the earlier range being retained as service accommodation. A predominantly stone-built single-storeyed addition south of the L-shaped range is probably also of seventeenth century date, and appears to have incorporated a through-passage across its north end.

A three-storeyed nine-bay addition on the west side, probably built in 1754, but destroyed by fire in 1779, is known from documentary sources, but has left no standing remains. In the early nineteenth century the Old Hall was abandoned as the principal seat in favour of a new house, Alderley Park, one kilometre to the south.

In 1912 the Old Hall was enlarged and extensively altered (in a style showing Arts and Crafts influences) by the architect Edmund Warre. Many of the internal features in the east range, including the main stair, and panelling in the ground-floor east room, date from this phase. The L-shaped range was extended one bay westwards, and further additions were constructed in the angle formed by it and the south range. The roof of the seventeenth century addition was replaced…’

<6> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 1994, An Archaeological Evaluation at the Old Hall, Nether Alderley, R2063 (Report). SCH4134.

Three trial trenches were dug on the north west side of the Hall during an archaeological evaluation in 1994, prior to building an extension to the house. No early remains were positively identified but in Trench 1 the deepest and earliest feature certainly predates the eighteenth century. A clear burnt layer, possibly relating to destruction by fire of the hall in the late eighteenth century, was also observed.

<7> Earthworks Archaeological Services, 1995, An Archaeological Watching Brief at The Old Hall, Nether Alderley, Cheshire, R2116 (Client Report). SCH4095.

During an archaeological watching brief undertaking during the construction of an extension, several features dating to the eighteenth and nineteenth century were observed . These included a brick lined culvert that drained into the moat and a brick lined well (see CHER 1404/2/6).

<8> Prag, AJNW (ed), 2016, The Story of Alderley; Living With The Edge, p.464 & 472 (Book). SCH8410.

Includes an illustration of the Old Hall in the eighteenth century and a plan of the house. In 1647 Parliamentary troops occupied the house as part of a dispute over unpaid arrears in their pay. The service wing survived the fire of 1779 and is still standing.

<9> Harrison, W, 1907, The Defensive Earthworks and Fortified Enclosures of Cheshire, p.153 (Article in Journal). SCH8411.

Listed as a homestead moat.

<10> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol.III, p.567 (Book). SCH1389.

'...The descent of this branch of the noble house of Stanley is given in the account of their manor of Over Alderley ; but the site of the anticnt residence is within this township, near the church and village. It was considerably altered, and a new front was added by sir Edward Stanley, in 17 54; but, in 1779, the entire building was destroyed by fire, with the exception of the offices, which are yet remaining…'

<11> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Land Line and Master Map Vector Maps (Maps and Plans). SCH4491.

<12> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.505 (Book). SCH7059.

'…The Stanleys' mansion burnt down in 1779. It was quadrangular, with a grand Carolean front to the road of brick, with giant pilasters, and older parts behind. A couple of tall gatepiers belonging to the forecourt survive. What is left is part of the service wing, partly brick of c.1580 with mullioned windows, partly timber-framed with elementary geometrical motifs. The principal element has the Stanley raised dormers front and back…'

<13> Moss, Fletcher, 1903, Pilgrimages to Old Homes Mostly on the Welsh Border, p.2-6 (Book). SCH8412.

'...The first mention of the hall is, that about 1580 Dorothy Stanley, 'who liveth sole,' built or rebuilt a house, which Sir Thomas Stanley greatly enlarged about 1630, and which Sir Edward Stanley added to in 1754. But in March 1779, nearly all was burnt, and it has never been rebuilt…….The ancient mounting-block still stands by the bridge, though pillions are no more, and ornamental pillars of stone are picturesquely awry after three centuries of storms. Even since these words werewritten and photographs taken, another stone column has fallen with the weight of years and ivy…'

<14> Maurice-Jones, H, 2003, The Country House in Edwardian Cheshire, p.16-17 (Book). SCH8413.

See (13).

<15> Archaeological Services WYAS, 2014, Congleton Link Road, Cheshire: Geophysical Survey (DRAFT), R4315 (Client Report). SCH8702.

A detailed archaeological desk-based assessment and site visit was undertaken in 2019 for the Old Hall, Nether Alderley, in support of proposed refurbishment and extension. This manorial moated site was located in close proximity to the manorial mill and the historic church; it is unusual to find such a surviving manorial ensemble within the north-west England, given that most historic centres were to suffer from extensive rebuilding during the late post-medieval period. The earliest reference to both manor house and mill occurs in 1391, and there seems no reason to suggest that these buildings were not located at the sites of their post-medieval successors. Contrary to the belief that the moat is of post medieval origin, it seems probable it has an origin in the late fourteenth century.

The surviving building on the moat platform represents the re-built service wing of the substantial courtyard house, erected and extended in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by the Stanley family and destroyed by fire in 1779. The documentary sources suggest that the destroyed house contained fabric of late sixteenth century date, possibly including the great hall. Subsequently, the house became a tenanted farmhouse, losing its manorial status. A number of associated farm buildings had been erected to the north of the moated site, but only one of these had survived, comprising a stable, which was originally timber-framed, but had been rebuilt in brick. The building interior of the existing Old Hall, especially at ground floor level, appears to have been extensively altered at some point after the RCHME undertook their Historic Building Report in June 1994. A number of internal walls have been demolished, and other walls re-built or re-faced, using new sandstone ashlars.

Both the historical evidence, and the archaeological works undertaken by Earthworks Archaeology (1994-5), would suggest that there is considerable below ground potential at this site, for the survival of both late medieval and early
post-medieval archaeological deposits and features. In particular, there may be surviving infilled cellars located beneath the site of the courtyard house.

<16> Matrix Archaeology, 2019, The Old Hall, Nether Alderley, Cheshire: Archaeological Evaluation, R4326 (Client Report). SCH8726.

Following on from the desk-based assessment in 2018 (see source 15), an archaeological evaluation was undertaken at the Old Hall prior to proposed extension. Seven trenches were excavated to the south of the hall on the moated platform. These investigations revealed a number of rock-cut postholes, possibly of medieval origin, although no medieval finds were recovered. Also the remains of brick footings were recorded, thought to relate to the demolished courtyard house. Additionally, the excavated evidence suggests that the moated platform was extended eastwards in the seventeenth century, perhaps implying that the north and west moat limbs were dug at that time, thus expanding the earlier millpond to create a water garden landscape feature.

<17> CFA Archaeology Ltd (Manchester), 2024, The Old Hall, Nether Alderley, Cheshire: Archaeological Recording and Monitoring and Historic Building Recording, R4807 (Client Report). SCH9690.

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken in 2021-2 at the Old Hall in advance of extension of the building and dredging of the moat and lake. The location of the topsoil strip was sited within the footprint of the approximate location of the former courtyard house known as Nether Alderley Hall which burned down in the 1779 fire, this was located to the south-west of the existing Old Hall. A buried brick wall footing was recorded with a course of large, rough-hewn stone blocks abutting the northern face of the brick footing. A pit was also recorded nearby as well as a further pit and a second stone surface of large stone slabs further to the south. The Wall footing appears to be in the approximate location of the inner northern courtyard wall of the former hall, as depicted on historic plans of the house. The abutting stone surface may be the remains of a stone floor structure within the inner courtyard. Similarly, the stone surface to the south of this may also represent a floor structure relating to the courtyard, alternatively it may be the remains of a later garden path associated with the Old Hall gardens. The function of pit to the west of Old Hall is unclear, though it is situated within what would have been the inner court of Nether Alderley Hall so may be contemporary with the previous building. The pit to the south of Old Hall almost certainly represents a dump of material in the post-medieval/modern period.

Excavations of topsoil around the exterior of the Hall revealed the building had sandstone foundations buried below the modern ground level. Also recorded was a small doorway in the south-eastern extension of the Old Hall was also recorded, this is thought to have provided access to a boat house or outbuilding structure, as seen in historic photographs.