Visits to Fields of Battle, in England, of the Fifteenth Century / to which are added, some miscellaneous tracts and papers upon archæological subjects

by Richard Brooke

This mansion is stated by Ormerod to have originally formed a quadrangle, but I could not satisfy myself, by inspection, whether that had been the case, although it is clear that it was once much larger than it now is. Early in 1849, in digging a drain in front of the hall, in a place which had been part of a garden, some human bones were found, with some wood, possibly parts of coffins, conveying an impression as if there had once been a place of interment there; but the remains were inconsiderable, and the researches were not pursued by any further excavation. There were persons, who have not been very long dead, who used to say that there had been grave-stones existing as late as in the last century, close to the hall. Traces of foundations have also been formerly discovered at the hall, conjectured to have formed part of a chapel; of course such a conjecture must be received with caution; as the mansion was once considerably larger, it does not follow that they may not have formed part of the foundations of other parts of it.

The hall has long been used as a farm-house, and belongs to the Rev. Henry Wright, of Mottram St. Andrew.

The brook before mentioned is one of the tributaries of a small river, called the Dean, and flows upon part of an estate at Handford, called the Brooke Farm, belonging to my father, Richard Brooke, Esq., [274] and which has been for a very long period in my family. The brook separates that estate in part from the adjoining one held with the hall, belonging to the Rev. Henry Wright. Some indications of fishponds and terraces may be seen in part of the field, which slopes down from the hall, towards the brook, conveying strongly the idea of the spot having been the site of a garden or pleasure-ground. As a proof how indifferent and inattentive the families of high consideration in the county were, in comparatively recent times, to many of the conveniences and requisites which respectable families now consider indispensable, I may observe, that the only road from the highway and village to the hall, crossed the brook, and that there was not any bridge there until about 1846 or 1847. [275] The Breretons must consequently have been obliged to cross it on horseback, or on stepping-stones, or have waded through it; and though the brook is quiet, and very shallow in dry weather, it is liable to rise and become much swollen after heavy rains, as I have more than once seen; and the act of crossing it in the dark, and after a continuance of wet weather, must have been a feat frequently attended not merely with much inconvenience, but with some danger. That circumstance may be mentioned, as exhibiting a feature in the habits of the country gentry of consideration in Cheshire, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the Breretons resided at the hall.

The interior of Handford Hall has been much changed, and the rooms considerably altered; the alterations, however useful they may be to a farmer, are sad desecrations in the eyes of an antiquary; but still something remains to interest the latter. The staircase is of oak, and is wide and handsome, with highly ornamented flat balusters, the upper part of which is curiously carved in open work, so as to form rather small and round-headed arches, cut through the wood, in a style occasionally used in the times of Elizabeth and James I. Above the arches are carved ornaments, not unlike lozenges, and the balustrade is surmounted with a heavy carved handrail, all of oak; and the whole balustrade, though handsomer than that of Soss Moss Hall, described by me in a former paper, has some resemblance to it. On the landing on the first floor, at the head of the stairs, is a large folding door, each fold of which is laid out in panels, on the lowest of which were formerly four ornaments of fleurs-de-lis, placed at the top, bottom, and on each side respectively; and each four pointing towards the centre of the panel; several of these fleurs-de-lis ornaments still remain. Above them are other panels, each decorated with four lozenge-shaped ornaments, also disposed so that each points to the centre. I was struck with the resemblance to the lozenge-shaped carved ornaments which are to be seen on the pulpit of Wilmslow Church, only a mile distant from Handford, and mentioned in a former paper. The folding door before mentioned, opened into what was the principal apartment on that floor, but which is now quite stripped of all appearance of antiquity. Several windows of the old hall have been modernized, but there are still some of them remaining, apparently as they have been for many generations, with small squares of glass let into lead, such as may be seen in many old houses.

There are several modern additions of brick, and other alterations in the hall, which detract from its appearance; still it has an air of antiquity, and correctly conveys the impression of having been the residence of a family of importance.

The chapel-of-ease, before mentioned, in the village of Handford, was built in 1837, by subscription of the landowners there, and of other benevolent persons; the scheme having been set on foot and much assisted by the exertions of the Rev. Edward Trafford Leigh, the then rector of Cheadle, in which parish it is situated.

A handsome brick viaduct of the Railway crosses a picturesque valley at Handford, through which the river Dean flows; and, after joining the Bollin near Wilmslow, the combined rivers fall into the Mersey, near Altrincham.

The place of interment of the Breretons of Handford was in the parish church of Cheadle, distant nearly four miles from the hall. The church is in the village of Cheadle, and is an old stone edifice of the Gothic style of architecture, with a chancel, a clerestory, a nave with four pointed arches on each side, resting on octagonal pillars, and with side aisles. It has a square tower, with six bells. It is a rectory which has for many years been in the patronage of the Broughtons; and the present rector is the Rev. Charles James Cummings.

There is a striking general resemblance between the churches of Cheadle, Wilmslow, and Bowdon, all in the same part of Cheshire; and they all appear to have been rebuilt, or considerably altered, or repaired, not long before the Reformation; and tradition says, that all three were repaired or rebuilt at the same time, which receives considerable corroboration, not merely from the resemblance in the appearance and style of the churches, but also from the fact, that an inscription, which I saw a few years ago, and which probably still remains, on the stained glass of a window at Bowdon Church, mentions the name of a prior of Birkenhead, the last or one of the last priors of that place, who is stated in the inscription, to have presented the window to the church.

The church at Cheadle is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. A chapel, called the Handford Chapel, is on the south side of the church. In this chapel is a large altar tomb, on which are recumbent marble figures of two knights or personages, in complete plate armour, of a very richly ornamented style, and each with his hands conjoined; one bare-headed, but with the head resting on a helmet, which is so injured that it cannot be clearly ascertained whether it had any crest; the other figure has a helmet, which is ornamented with a wreath and a fillet, and has a crest, seemingly the head of some animal, but of which there are not sufficient remains to show whether it was the head of a bird or beast, but it is said to have been that of a hind. Each of the figures is decorated with a collar of SS, and the feet of each rest upon a lion. Another altar tomb is placed close up to and on the north side of the tomb, but on rather a lower elevation; on it is a third figure, in stone, with some truces of its having been painted; it is the effigy of another personage, in plate armour, but instead of greaves, it has rather small jack-boots, and is bare-headed, with long flowing hair; and, what seems very remarkable in such an effigy, instead of a gorget, it has a neckcloth or cravat, tied, with the ends of it falling down over the upper part of the cuirasse. The head also rests upon a helmet with a plume of feathers, coloured blue, white, and red: the feet do not rest upon any animal.