Memorials of old Cheshire

by Unknown

ECHOES FROM FARNDON

By the late Rev. L. E. Owen

[The sudden death of Mr. Owen prevented him from recasting the materials he had gathered and the paper he had written. It has been a labour of love to the Archdeacon of Chester to do this, and to add some little matter bearing upon the points which Mr. Owen, with his full and sympathetic knowledge of the place, had brought into such clear prominence.]

FARNDON (Ferenton in Domesday Book) is a village about eight miles from Chester, and small though it is, it has played no unimportant part in the history of the county. It is situated on the banks of the Dee, immediately opposite to Holt, in Wales, with which it is connected by a fine stone bridge of nine arches. Many people nowadays will only think of the extensive fields of strawberries for which Farndon is famous, and it will therefore be a revelation to them to learn that the village in former days was a place of some importance.

Farndon Bridge.

Going back to Roman times, we must remember that Farndon was on the road between Chester and Wroxeter, and that it commanded the ferry, the first means of crossing the river above Chester. The importance of this situation in that early period has recently been brought out by the discovery of extensive Roman remains at Holt, and within half a mile of Farndon Bridge. Here cartloads of broken pottery, tiles, and drain-pipes have been found, many of which bear the stamp of “Leg. xx. v.v.,” with that regiment’s peculiar badge of the boar. The excavations are still proceeding, and fortunately are being conducted under the supervision of an ardent antiquarian, Mr. Arthur Acton, who is the occupier of the site. It is too soon yet to form an adequate opinion of the bearing of this discovery on past history. That an important Roman station existed here there can be no doubt, and it must have extended its distinction to Farndon, at the opposite side of the river. In fact, Roman tiles and portions of a hypocaust have been found at Crewe Hill, the residence of Mr. Harry Barnston, in the parish and about a mile south of the village of Farndon. It has been suggested that the site at Holt may have been occupied by kilns for the manufacture of tiles and pipes. The profusion in which these are found and the character of some of them are somewhat in favour of this idea. Large supplies would be needed for the neighbouring city of Chester, and this may have been the most convenient spot for making them. But if this were so, the factory would no doubt be protected in some way, and the excavations which are proceeding will probably reveal something, and may clear up the matter. In any case, Farndon would derive considerable importance from its proximity to Holt, as it was here that the river was crossed; if Holt was a camp, there would be frequent communications through Farndon between it and Chester; if a factory, the articles constructed would have to be conveyed through the place in the same way. We can well imagine that in those bygone ages Farndon witnessed a considerable, if not a constant, stream of traffic between Wales and Chester. It is possible that Holt, and not Bangor-is-y-coed, may have been the site of the Roman Bovium, and the late Mr. Thompson Watkins, in his Roman Cheshire, in 1886 wrote: “If Bovium were on this line of road, which I do not think, it would certainly be at Holt or Farndon, for the distance, nine English or ten Roman miles, exactly agrees, whilst Bangor is at least fifteen Roman miles from Chester.” If this were the case, Farndon would derive considerable importance from its nearness to the place, and would in some measure be a kind of outwork and protection to it.

Coming on to a later period, Farndon, from its position, must often have been the scene of stirring events. It was, as will have been gathered, not far from Bangor Monachorum, and communications between the two places must have been frequent. It is conceivable that the first Christian church was planted at Farndon, or the first preaching of Christianity given, by the monks from that monastery, but this must be a matter of conjecture. But when Ethelfrith, the pagan King of Northumbria, having conquered Chester, invaded Wales, A.D. 613, he must have passed through Farndon, or been in its immediate neighbourhood. It was then that the “Battle of Chester” was fought, and that the King massacred 1200 monks upon the field, because, though not bearing arms, they were praying for his defeat, and afterwards burnt down the monastic buildings, murdered the remnant of the monks, and destroyed their libraries. Those must have been anxious times for the dwellers in Farndon. No doubt in the years that followed they were continually being roused to activity, and had to protect themselves from constant attacks from their neighbours, the Welsh; but all this we must imagine, for we have no definite record of it. We are told that Edward the Elder, son of King Alfred, died at Farndon in 925, on his way south from fighting at Chester. He was carried to Winchester and buried in the Cathedral. The quotation from William of Malmesbury is as follows: After the battle at Chester “paucis diebus apud Ferenduna mortuus est Edvardus.” Some think that this refers to Farndon in Nottinghamshire, though the wounded monarch could hardly have accomplished so long a ride in a few days. The statement or tradition is an interesting one, and it would be well if further confirmatory information were forthcoming. It is curious (though it may have no connection with this event) that there was afterwards at Farndon one of the Cheshire sanctuaries called King’s Marsh. “It was a wild, desolate district, surrounded by a ditch to mark the limit of safety for fugitives and ‘foreigners’; for any who sought the protection of the Earl of Chester, or who were acting as mercenaries against his enemies, might reside here in safety for a year and day, provided they used no nails or pins in the erection of their squatter’s tent.”[50]

[50] Coward’s Picturesque Cheshire, p. 278. The title may perhaps be due to the fact that King Richard III. granted Over-Marsh to Sir William Stanley, the name being subsequently changed to King’s Marsh.

The bridge which succeeded the ferry has always been famous as affording connection with Wales. The next bridge below is at Aldford, some six miles by river, and the next above at Bangor, about fourteen miles distant by the river, which winds considerably. The date for it given by Pennant is 1345, and he says, “Until lately” (by which he may mean 1820 to 1830) “the date was over one of the arches,” but that has now disappeared. It consists of nine arches, one of which is higher than the rest; and in the roadway above this is some very massive masonry on the north side, indicating the site of the guardhouse, under which was a drawbridge, used with considerable effect at the battle of Farndon Bridge, when the Parliamentarians drove the Royalists over into Wales in 1643. In the Constable’s accounts for 1727 occurs the item: “Payd for the Guard House, 00. 01. 09.” The best part of the old bridge is to be seen by going into the third bay from Holt on the north side, and observing the tracery of a portion of some beautiful windows. The western one has remains of steps leading down to the water. Attention is directed to this, as but few visitors notice it. A sad tragedy is connected with this bridge. Prince Madoc, son of Griffith, Lord of Dinas Bran, had two sons, of whom Earl Warren and Roger Mortimer, Earl of the Marches, were appointed guardians by Edward I. These lords soon conspired to free themselves from their charges and possess themselves of their estates. Accordingly they caused them, one being of the age of ten and the other eight, to be thrown over the bridge and drowned. The authority for this story is in a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, but for many years a variation of it was current in the country under the fable of two young fairies who had been destroyed in this manner. There were also legends of their ghosts being seen at certain times. It was Roger Mortimer who, with Isabella, wife of Edward II., was responsible for that King’s death at Berkeley Castle.