Monument record 459 - Plague House

The Plague House, Wash Lane, Latchford, with 'God's providence is mine inheritance' & the date 1652 inscribed on it. Said to have been erected to commemorate the owner's escape from the plague (1). Numbers 57-63 Wash Lane, known locally as the Plague House, formerly a farmhouse called Round Step House. House was mid 17th century with date on beam - 1650. Divided into 4 dwellings. 2 storied, 2 front gables, timber-framed & brick, with an old flag & slate roof. Formerly a Grade II building. Demolished mid 1950s (2). A plague-stone formed part of the coping of a wall to the house. This example is not the socket stone of a medieval wayside cross, as the socket is 4.5ins square & 2ins deep (1). Plague stone measures 14 x 12 inches & is 8ins thick. The central cavity has been crudely cut & measures 6 x 5ins & is 2ins deep (3). Plague House, for the victims of the plague. The date of 1650 on the front of the house shows that the cases of the plague which occurred here must have been at or near the last appearance of the disease in England c.1664-5. The coping stone at the NW corner of the garden or couryard has a square cavity in it, in which tradition says that the plague sufferers placed money, steeped in vinegar, to pay for provisions provided by the townspeople. Those who died here were buried in the field known as the Broom field, immediately behind the Plague House (see RN:461) (4).

<1> Beamont W, 1889, A History of Latchford, /86 (Book). SCH71.

<2> Department for the Environment, Various, Provisional List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /15-16/no.1/42 1947 (Report). SCH2744.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ68NW67/1960 (Index). SCH2487.

<4> Chester Archaeological Society, Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, Kendrick J 1885 3/298-299 (Journal/Periodical). SCH1595.