Building record 984/2/0 - Park Place and Castle Park in Frodsham

<1> Frodsham Local History Group, 1985, Discovering Old Frodsham, p.6 (Booklet-Leaflet). SCH1051.

The house was built on or near the site of the old manor house of the earls of Chester (see CHER 984/1/1) which burnt down in 1654. The site was acquired by Daniel Ashley in the mid eighteenth century, who cleared the site and built a Georgian mansion known as Park Place. It was purchased in 1851 by Joseph Stubbs who largely rebuilt the house and laid out the gardens over the next ten years. From 1861 the property was owned by Edward Abbott Wright and his family, who occupied the house until 1931, when it was gifted to Runcorn Rural District Council.

<2> Vale Royal Borough Council, 1977-79, The Vale Royal Borough Council Historic Buildings Survey Index Card, FRO/HB 140 (Paper Archive). SCH5481.

Large manor house situate off Chester, Frodsham Road in its own extensive grounds with carpark (site of mill pool with sluice gate in part existing). Grounds used as public park, ornamental gardens with pleasant glass greenhouse. It would appear that the grounds housed the remains of the castle up to the latter part of the eighteenth century (see sketch by S & N Buck in 1727) and were demolished to make way for the present hall. Joseph Abbott Wright gave the hall and grounds to the Runcorn Rural District in 1932. Internally the rooms and offices have been altered somewhat to accommodate the council and private offices. The staircase stands, originally of bleached pine, in good condition with moulded ceiling above stairwell. Several panels of relief sculptures depicting cherubs hunting adorn the walls. Mirrored side panels to window frames in the present collecting offices which also has a moulded ceiling of circular design and according to information was gold leaf adorned and now painted blue. The front door is original and substantial with terrazzo and tiled entrance lobby. To left hand side of the building a carriageway goes down to the stables and coach house with a working clock and tower. Was used as the fire station. A stone flagged courtyard is surrounded by a variety of small buildings, some in state of disrepair. The Wright coat of arms is positioned over stable door. The clock tower has stone quoins and brick string courses. The builder thought to be Ashley.

<3> Vale Royal Borough Council, 2006, Vale Royal Borough Council's List of Locally Important Buildings (Report). SCH5487.

Criterion E: Buildings Included in the Vale Royal Borough Council Historic Buildings Survey 1977 - 79

<4> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol.II p.53 (Book). SCH1389.

The ruins [of the manor house] were taken down to make way for the erection of a mansion called Park Place, [now Castle Park,] the residence of Daniel Ashley, esq. Parts of the thick foundation-walls of the castle, form the cellars of the house. An ancient lamp, a plate, a cannon-ball, and several coffins, were found amongst the ruins of the castle.

<5> Castlering Archaeology, 2004, Castle Park, Frodsham, Cheshire: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment & Site Visit (Client Report). SCH4578.

The Ashley family became demolished the [manor house] ruins and rebuilding a Georgian mansion on the site. Ormerod (see 4) records that the new house was then known as 'Park Place' and that parts of the foundation walls of the castle were incorporated into the cellars. In 1851 it was sold to Joseph Stubs who set about reconstructing and extending the house and outbuildings, commissioning Edward Kemp (1817-1891) to lay out the woods and gardens. The architect employed by Stubs may have been Thomas Mainwaring Penson of Chester. In 1861 it was sold to Edward Abbot Wright, who changed the name to 'Castle Park'. In 1933 the house and grounds were bequeathed to Runcorn Rural District Council for use as a pubic park, to be administered by a Trust. The farm buildings and courtyard added to the estate in the 1870s, were used for Frodsham Fire Station c.1933, and converted to local authority housing in 1985.

The two-storey building in Neo-classical style is constructed in red brick with sandstone detail with a stone porch forming the main entrance on the west side. The internal character of the Victorian house has been partly lost since its adaptive re-use, but many architectural features are still evident, the more obvious of which are the decorated ceilings and timber panelled reveals to the windows.

The cellarage is located below the ground plan of the existent house. The cellarage appears to contain occasional irregular-shaped masonry, which may have been salvaged and re-used from the medieval 'manor' house. The sandstones, where evident, were whitewashed-over, which prevented clear examination. The main foundation fabric, however, appears to be quarry cut ' tooled' sandstone, regularly coursed, which does not appear to pre-date the eighteenth century.

<6> Castlering Archaeology, 2005, Castle Park House, Castle Park, Frodsham, Cheshire; Archaeological Watching Brief. (Client Report). SCH4730.

A watching brief was undertaken at Castle park House in 2005 in advance of renovation and restoration of the house, with the aim of gaining more information on the location of the early castle or manor house. The works on site included the lowering of floor levels within the basement of Castle Park House, the demolition of the modern council chamber and reductions in ground levels over the area formerly occupied by the council chamber. However, no evidence of a house earlier than the eighteenth century building was discovered. The present building appears to have been constructed entirely on sand.