Building record 1774/1 - Edge Hall

<1> Turner R C, 1986, Edge - Notes on the Archaeological & Historic Landscapes (Unpublished Report). SCH1099.

Edge Hall is certainly the original centre of the medieval manor. The Dod family have owned the Edge estate since the reign of Henry II (1154-89) and the hall stood within an irregular moat. The present building dates from c.1600, probably incorporating an earlier core, and retains some interior panelling and plasterwork from that period. It was refronted and enlarged in the early eighteenth century and the moat was drained in 1754. The house was further extended into the drained moat in the nineteenth century. Edge Hall was always the heart of the estate, to the extent that part of the house was converted into a chapel so that the Dod family and their tenants might attend divine service together.

<2> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 55157 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

The front of the house largely dates from 1721 however, the core is c.1600. The rear and sides date from c.1790 (and later). The interior dates from the early seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and includes a staircase dating from 1700 and seventeenth to eighteenth century wood panelling. The first floor has a small area of exposed close studding bearing the inscription HD 1304.

<3> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, p.363 (Book). SCH3078.

A Jacobean house with five gables, two to the left and three to the right of a recess whose facard is a curious insertion of c.1700.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ45SE8 1964 (Index). SCH2487.

Edge Hall is on a moated site, the moat of which was drained in 1788. The house has been altered many times and there is reason to believe (timber inscribed H.D. 1304) that the site is at least fourteenth century in date. Includes survey of the moat.

<5> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Vol.II p.684 (Book). SCH1389.

The present mansion is of considerable antiquity, but has been so repeatedly altered in various styles, that no date can be inferred from its architecture. This house has also been moated, and stands very low, the ground sloping to it in almost every direction.

<6> IPC Media, 1897-Present, Country Life, Worsley G 1986 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH993.

<7> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.639 (Book). SCH7059.

The house was tightly moated until the eighteenth century. It was originally a H shaped timber framed building with extra gables. Around 1700 it was encased in brick. In 1721 the recessed centre was brought forward and built in an altogether more elaborate style. Part of an nineteenth century service wing, which stood on the moat, has been removed. Next to it is an eighteenth century bridge.