Building record 1902/1/1 - Peel Hall

<1> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1986, Peel Hall (Report). SCH2626.

Peel Hall, Gonga Lane. Was fine Jacobean mansion. In will of Henry Gee 1545 (Merchant,Sheriff & Mayor of Chester) ref made to 'my household at ye Pele'. Property next passed in marriage to Henry Hardware, twice Mayor of Chester. Rental 1610 details 'dwellinge house with all housinge belonging to the same with the Hempyarde, Towre trees. Broome croft, Dove house, 2 gardens, 2 orchards, Pooles Panns, Connyes Hopyard'. Hearth tax paid 1663 on 14 hearths. House sold & by c.1680 sold again to Roger Whitley, MP for Flint & later for Chester. Peel Hall visited by William III 1690. By 1810 reduced to farmhouse.

<2> Turner, R C, 1986, Peel Hall, An Artisan Mannerist Puzzle in Cheshire, 136/27-37 Turner R C 1986 (Article in Journal). SCH8669.

Present blg 1637 for Henry Hardware IV. Artisan Mannerist house. Rectangular with centrally placed hall & short crosswing, facing E. Hall prob open through 2 storeys with passage or crosswing at each end. Hall prob above ground level and so probably had external staircase. South range must have contained main withdrawing rooms. Unknown what the function of rooms in the north wing was. Reconstructed plan of the former footprint of the hall.

<3> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /2/34 (Report). SCH1934.

Plan now L-shaped, as E entrance front & N cross- wing demolished, leaving remains of central 1st floor, 2-storey hall, showing as no. of blocked openings on outside walls. Tooled ashlar sandstone, hipped Welsh slate roof. S & garden front imposing, symmetrical 5-bays, 2 chimneys. Central bay projects & has door with 4 steps. C19 restored doorcase has Tuscan architrave. Stone mullioned & transomed windows. Right end bay has modillions at cornice & 2-storey canted bay window. N & E fronts show remains of great hall at 1st floor level. N front has doorcase with carved spandrels to round arch, with date plague-ANO 1637 DMl. E front shows large moulded hall fireplace & 2 blocked doorcases. W front-3 storeys, 4 bays, reduced in height. Mullioned & transomed windows. Int: Present entry from S front into room with open well oak staircase, prob moved, blocked doorcase formerly into great hall. Minor W range contains arched doorcase on plain columns, with slot to contain wooden screen, carried below on massive corbel. Some exposed beams.Arch desc

<4> County Historic Environment Record, 1973-1985, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin, 9/34 Wilshaw E 1983 (Journal/Periodical). SCH565.

Ref 4 associates site with a medieval peel tower which is said to have stood within the circular moat (RN:1902/2/2). At an unknown date the Peel was demolished and the materials re-used in the construction of barns & outbuildings for a 2nd building, erected on or near the site of the present hall. This later building was possibly timber framed & seems to be the house named on Saxton's map of 1557 as 'The Pyle'. The building appears to have been quite old at the time of its demolition in 1637, for Webb, writing in the 1620s, records 'the goodly ancient house called the Peel or the Pile' (4).

<5> Cheshire Rural Community Council, 1951-1960, The Cheshire Historian, 10/37-40 Jackson S 1960 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3102.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NE8/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<7> 1881-1900s, Cheshire Notes and Queries, 2/190-1 1897 (Journal/Periodical). SCH558.

<8> de Figueiredo P & Treuherz J, 1988, Cheshire Country Houses, /135-7 (Book). SCH785.

The remains at Peel Hall are sufficient to show that is was a Jacobean housef importance. The front of the current building appears to be a solid stone block of a symmetrical house. At the back, however, a blocked fireplace and doorways can be seen on the external walls, including a dated stone marked 1637 above one of the doorways. The present L shaped house is believed to be around one third of the original rectangular 2 storey house and basement built by Henry Hardware IV in 1637.

<9> Castlering Archaeology, 2003, Peel Hall Barns, Ashton Hayes, Cheshire: Archaeological Building Assessment, R2558 (Client Report). SCH4737.

The existing hall was built in 1637 by Henry Hardware VI. The estate later passed to his brother who appears to have sold it to Colonel Whitley in 1670. King William III is said to have stayed at Peel Hall in 1690 prior to sailing to Ireland. A diary extract from the time suggests large stabling and coach housing.
A large part of the hall was demolished in the early 19th century.

<10> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

2/34 Peel Hall (formerly listed as Old Peel Hall) 22/10/1952
GV II*
Formerly mansion, now farmhouse: dated 1637 for Henry Hardware IV but substantially reduced in size by 1812. Tooled ashlar Manley sandstone, hipped Welsh slate roof and 2 massive stone chimneys on the main facade. 1 brick chimney with C17 style stacks on lesser range. Artisan Mannerist. Original probably a large rectangular house with short crosswings facing east, now L-shaped. 3-storey over basement, symmetrical 5-bay south garden front. Moulded bands at 1st and 2nd floor and on the blocking course. Large blank chimneys to either side of the 3-bay centre. The central bay also projects slightly and has a door approached by 4 steps. Late C19 restored Tuscan architrave to a moulded stone doorcase with a fanlight with stone mullions. All the mullions are half round to the front, cyma-moulded to the rear. 3-light mullioned and transomed windows in moulded surround and a 4-light mullioned window in the blocking course above the doorcase. Remaining bays have mullioned and transomed windows on the ground and 1st floor only. Right end bay has modillions at the cornice and the right side has a 2-storey canted bay window. North and east fronts show the remains of a sumptuous great hall at 1st floor level. Semi-circular headed doorcase with strapwork in the spandrels and an ornate date plaque reading ANO 1637 DMI below a blocked Venetian window motif with a segmental pediment. To the left is a column capital and voussoir of a doorcase, similar to one hidden internally. The latter has an elliptical medallion flanked by Renaissance pilasters showing above on the east front. This front also shows the large moulded fireplace of the hall and 2 blocked doorcases, one above the other, at the right end. 3-storey, 4-bay west front (slightly reduced in height) has a mixture of 4-light mullioned and transomed windows. Added late C19 porch hides a blocked 4-centred arched doorway. Interior: Entry from south front into a room with restored and probably moved open well oak staircase with 2 levels of pierced splat balusters, a moulded handrail, square newels with finials and the base of the balusters on the open string. To the front is a blocked semi-circular headed doorcase, formerly into the great hall. To the right is a moulded stone doorcase and the room contains a chamfered 4-centred arched fireplace. Basement below has a blocked depressed arch to the fireplace. Minor range contains a fine semi-circular arched doorcase on plain columns, with a slot to contain a wooden screen. This is carried below on a massive corbel. The remaining features are vernacular, some exposed beams and doors with 2 moulded panels.
An intriguing portion of what must have been a fine Jacobean mansion, where the east entrance front and the northern crosswing have been demolished, leaving the remains of a central 1st floor, 2-storey hall of some magnificance, showing only as a number of blocked openings on the outside walls. Its advanced plan can be compared to the contemporary Raynham Hall, Norfolk. Col. Roger Whitley entertained King William III here, on his way to Ireland and the Battle of the Boyne.

<11> 2004, 'Roger Whitley's Diary: June 1690', Roger Whitley's Diary 1684-1697: Bodleian Library, MS Eng Hist c 711 (2004)., http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23155&strquery= (Web Site). SCH7042.

Diary entry of Roger Whitley records visit of the King ( william III) in June 1790.