Life in the Big House

David Cummings

Introduction
Life at The Old Hall through the 17th century taken from material deposited at the Cheshire Record Office in the papers of the late Rector A. A. Guest Williams. They relate to life at the Hall at the time when it was occupied by Robert Townsend, Recorder of Chester, and his family. It is a fascinating account of this period and contains previously unpublished material gathered by the Local History Group in its research for the book Christleton “2000years of History.”
The Old Hall
Window
The Old Hall would seem to be the natural place for the Lord of the Manor of Christleton to live. However this hasn't been the case. It was built soon after 1603, by a member of the Egertons who had their main family seat at Tatton Park. It was originally an elegant half timbered building. John Egerton was described as a husbandman in a will of 1667 and possessed a coat of arms of six quarterings. The building was later purchased by Gerard Townsend a "Merchant of Chester" around 1710 and he was succeeded by his son Robert Townsend, a Lawyer and Recorder of Chester. In later years the house was occupied by The Ince Family, Mrs Mary Legh, J Verney Lace, and Major & Mrs Currie. It was purchased in 1946 by the Guest Williams brothers, but they were themselves related directly by marriage to the Ince, Legh and Currie families going back to at least 1747, and possibly earlier. Following the sale of the property in 1974, it has been substantially restored.

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Although the Old Hall itself was built in 1603, there is some evidence of buildings of an earlier period on the site. Above the Tudor looking fireplace in the main hall, the original grate for which is still preserved, there are on the right oval of plaster, the emblems of the English Rose, the Unicorn and the Thistle of Scotland- hailing no doubt the Stuart Dynasty. On the left oval panel is a curious device of a crest, or badge of an oak tree, with an eagle preying upon an infant. There is no doubt that house was originally built in black and white timber frame style, but was encased in 1890 in red Ruabon Brick by Rector Lionel Garnett, possibly to help preserve it from decay. Parts of a tunnel still surround the building, giving rise to the legend that the tunnel was used by the Parliamentarian forces during the civil war, when the Old Hall was occupied by Sir William Brereton the commander of The Parliamentarians in Cheshire. It is said that the tunnel running east to west carved under the sandstone ridge allowed troops to move easily between the Old Hall, Manor House and Church where the main garrison would have been stationed.