Gawsworth Old Hall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gawsworth Old Hall
Gawsworth Old Hall
Location	Gawsworth, Cheshire, England
OS grid reference	SJ 891 696
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated	25 July 1952
Reference no.	1139500
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Gawsworth Old Hall is a very old and important house in the village of Gawsworth, Cheshire, England. It is a special kind of house made of wood, painted black and white. This style is typical of the Cheshire area. The house you see today was built between 1480 and 1600. It replaced an even older house from the Norman times. It was likely built around a central courtyard, but parts were taken down over time. Now, it looks like a 'U' shape.

Famous people have lived here, like Mary Fitton. Some people think she was the "Dark Lady" in Shakespeare's poems. Another famous resident was Samuel "Maggoty" Johnson. He was a playwright and is thought to be the last professional jester in England. His grave is nearby in Maggoty Wood. In 1712, a big argument over who owned Gawsworth led to a famous duel. Both people fighting were killed.

The hall is surrounded by beautiful gardens and parkland. These grounds once included an Elizabethan pleasure garden. There might have even been a place for jousting tournaments. The gardens are also very important and have special protection. They include four other old buildings, like the gatehouse and garden walls. Gawsworth Old Hall and its grounds are open to visitors at certain times. They also host fun events. In the summer, concerts and shows happen in an outdoor theatre near the hall.

History of Gawsworth Old Hall

The first house on this spot was built during the Norman era. We know about it from a document in 1365. This document gave permission for a small chapel inside the house. At that time, the Fitton family owned the house. They got it in 1316 and kept it until 1611.

The original Norman house was replaced in the 1400s and 1500s. Building started in 1480 and continued until about 1600. Since then, some parts of the house have been taken down. Other parts have been changed a lot. Experts believe the house was once surrounded by a moat. They also think it was built around a square courtyard.

In 1579, Sir Edward Fitton III inherited the house. His father, Sir Edward Fitton II, had passed away. Sir Edward III was the father of Mary Fitton. She was a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I. Some historians believe she was the "Dark Lady" in Shakespeare's poems.

After Sir Edward Fitton, 2nd Baronet, died in 1643, the estate went to Charles Gerard. He later became the first Earl of Macclesfield. There was a legal fight over who truly owned the estate. Sir Charles and his cousin Alexander Fitton were both claiming it. Sir Charles won the case in 1663. Around 1700, parts of the house were taken down. It is thought that the west side, possibly including a gatehouse, was removed.

In the early 1700s, the ownership dispute started again. This led to a famous duel in Hyde Park, London, in 1712. Lord Mohun from the Gerard family fought the 4th Duke of Hamilton from the Fitton side. Both men were killed in the fight. The estate stayed with the Gerard family.

Later, William Stanhope bought the house. He became the first Earl of Harrington. His family owned the house until 1935. After that, a Cheshire historian named Raymond Richards owned it. He collected old items from historic buildings that were being torn down. He put these items into Gawsworth Old Hall or displayed them in the grounds. The Richards family still owns and manages the house today.

Architecture and Design

Outside and Layout

Gawsworth Old Hall is a timber-framed house. It has a black-and-white style and a roof made of Kerridge sandstone. The roof is very heavy, weighing more than 300 tonnes. Most of the house has two floors. On the north side and the south front, the wooden frame is covered in brick. Then, more timber is added to the outside. Inside, the original roof beams are still there.

The house is shaped like a 'U'. The open side faces west, where a courtyard used to be. The main entrance is on the north side. It leads into the Entrance Hall. To the west of this hall is the Library. To the east is the Morning Room. The Entrance Hall also leads into the longest part of the house, the eastern side. This part has the Long Hall at the north end and the Dining Room. The Long Hall was once a Great Hall and was open all the way to the roof. Now, it has two floors. The kitchen and a chapel are to the east of this section.

The Dining Room leads to a room called the Green Room. This room is angled slightly to the east. It was also once open to the roof, but it was not a great hall. Experts think this room was originally a separate building, perhaps a barn. It was added to the main house when the east side was built. Not much of the south side of the house remains. It used to have living areas that connected to the now-gone west side. The Drawing Room is located between the Dining Room and the remaining south side. This room has a special angled bay window on the north side. It goes up three floors. The only dated item in the building is the Fitton coat of arms on the north front. It was carved in 1570 by Richard Rany.

Inside the Hall

Many of the original features inside Gawsworth Old Hall have been lost. This is because of all the changes over hundreds of years. Raymond Richards, a past owner, added new features. For example, he added the decorative door frame around the entrance. The Entrance Hall still has its medieval shape and a low ceiling. It displays the Richards family's coat of arms and old weapons. This includes a fancy suit of armor from the 1800s, moved from Scarisbrick Hall.

To the west of the Entrance Hall is the Library. This room is shaped like a double cube, measuring 16 feet by 32 feet. Its most important feature is a beautifully carved Tudor fireplace. The bookcases were designed by A. W. N. Pugin. Raymond Richards brought both the fireplace and the bookcases here. The bookcases came from Scarisbrick Hall. They hold a large collection of books about Cheshire. In a corner cabinet, there is a flint axe head from about 2000 BC. It was found in the nearby park in 1912.

To the south of the Entrance Hall is the Long Hall. This room still has its fireplace and ceiling from the Tudor era. The hall contains antique furniture and paintings by famous artists. These include David Wilkie, J. M. W. Turner, and John Constable. To the south of the Long Hall is the main staircase. It was updated in 1920. Near the staircase, you can see a Waterford glass chandelier from about 1780. There is also a portrait of the first Earl of Harrington by Allan Ramsay.

A door from this area leads into the chapel. This is the third or fourth chapel in the house. It was dedicated to Thomas More when he became a saint in 1935. Much of the wood in the chapel dates from 1803. Many of the decorations were brought here by Richards from an old church in Ipswich. Two marble plaques in the chapel were made by Thomas Thornycroft. He was a sculptor born in a nearby village. Next to the chapel is a walkway or baptistry. It has a font and stained glass windows. These windows were made by Morris & Co. and designed by Edward Burne-Jones. Richards got them from All Saints Church in Birkenhead. They show the Crucifixion and Saints Agnes, George, Stephen, and Alban. The south door has pieces of old glass from Plas Newydd in Llangollen. These pieces were originally from a medieval church. Next to the chapel is a conservatory. It contains marble sculptures by John Warrington Wood.

To the south of the Long Hall is the Dining Room. It has changed very little since the Tudor era. It has a 16th-century refectory table. There is also an oak writing desk from about 1650. You can also see Wedgwood majolica ware made around 1830. The Dining Room leads to the small Guard Room. This room has two 17th-century chairs and an 18th-century blunderbuss. To the west of this is the Drawing Room. This is the main living room of the hall. It has changed little since the mid-1500s.

To the south of the Drawing Room is a small room called the Gold Room. This room still has a decorative border from the early 1500s. It includes carvings of Tudor roses, flowers, and birds. There is also a bust (a sculpture of a head and shoulders) of Charles Gerard. In the southeast corner of the hall is the Green Room. This room has a painting of Gawsworth Rectory by Charles Tattershall Dodd. It also has a complete set of a dinner service by Minton, with 120 pieces.

A staircase from the east of the Guard Room leads to the Gallery on the upper floor. To the south of the Gallery is the Solar. This room has a 16th-century four-poster bed. It is known as the Boswell bed and used to be in Lympne Castle, Kent. The main bedroom of the house is the Hall Room. Much of it has survived from the early 1500s. It has a four-poster bed from the time of William and Mary. There is also a portrait by Zuccaro of members of the Fitton family. This painting used to be in Brereton Hall. A room next to the Hall Room has been made into a modern bathroom. Next to that is Mary Fitton's Bedroom, which has an old plaster border. The other rooms on this floor are the French Room, with an 18th-century French bed, and a small bedroom called the Griffin Room. Next to this is the Billiard Room. You can see the wooden roof beams in this room. Besides the billiard table, the room has a marble sculpture of Echo by Alfred Gatley. There is also a bust of John Milton.

Gardens and Grounds

Gawsworth Old Hall from the north

The house has an inner garden of about 30 acres. This is surrounded by a parkland of about 600 acres. Both areas are enclosed by walls. South of the hall, the inner garden is a modern formal garden. It sits where the original 16th-century formal garden was. Beyond this, in the parkland, you can see the earthworks of an earlier garden. The parkland is almost square, with a curved section on the south side. It is mostly a large grassy area with small hills and bumps.

A Cheshire historian, George Ormerod, wrote in 1819 that this area had a tilting ground for jousting. The hall's official guidebook repeats this idea. It suggests the ground was made hoping Queen Elizabeth I would visit during her royal travels. However, she never did. There is some debate about when the garden was created. But it is generally agreed that it was an Elizabethan pleasure garden. A raised mound of earth in the southwest corner of the garden was used to view the garden from above. A similar mound in the southeast corner was removed during the Second World War. To the west of the hall, a wooded area called the Rookery has old lime trees.

Some digging work in 1989–90 found a filled-in canal running through the center of the garden. The excavations gave "a tremendous insight into the past." However, it was not enough to know the exact date it was built. To the north of the hall, there are four fish ponds.

Other Structures in the Grounds

Four buildings in the grounds around the hall are listed as Grade II historic buildings. This means they are considered "of special interest." The 17th-century gatehouse is made of brick with stone details and a stone slate roof. It has two floors and three sections. The gate piers are from the late 1600s or early 1700s. They are painted stone and topped with ball decorations from the 1900s. The garden walls were built in the 1500s, with later additions and changes. They are made of brick with stone details. At the southern end is a large rectangular enclosed area.

In nearby woodland are the grave and memorial for Samuel "Maggoty" Johnson. He was a playwright and is said to have been the last professional jester in England. He lived in the hall and died in 1773 at 82 years old. His grave is a stone slab on a brick base. Next to it is another inscribed stone slab from the 1800s.

Gawsworth Old Hall Today

Gawsworth Old Hall is located south of Gawsworth village. It is about 3 miles southeast of Macclesfield. Immediately to the west is the very important Church of St James. To the north, across a fish pond, is Gawsworth New Hall. Nearby is also the important Gawsworth Old Rectory. Gawsworth Old Hall was given its Grade I listing on July 25, 1952. Grade I listing is for buildings of "exceptional interest." Only about 2.5 percent of all listed buildings have this status. The grounds are also very important and are listed as Grade II*. This means the site is "particularly important, of more than special interest."

The hall is open to the public at certain times. Many events are held in the grounds and inside the hall throughout the year. There is a tea room in the grounds that serves refreshments. The hall is also licensed for civil weddings. Ceremonies take place in the Long Hall. Receptions can be held in a large tent in the grounds. During the summer, plays, concerts, and other shows happen in the open-air theatre near the hall.

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire East
• Listed buildings in Gawsworth