Gawsworth Old Hall

The original house on the site dated from the Norman era. The earliest documentary reference is the granting of a licence for the administration of a chapel within the house in 1365. The house was then owned by Thomas Fitton, who had inherited it by marriage in 1316, and it remained in the possession of the Fitton family until 1611. The original house was replaced in the 15th and 16th centuries. Building started in 1480, the estate passed to Charles Gerard, later the first Earl of Macclesfield. The estate remained with the Gerards, until it was bought by William Stanhope, who later became the first Earl of Harrington, and it remained with this family until 1935. The house was owned by the Cheshire antiquary Raymond Richards until his death in 1978. Richards collected items from historic buildings that were being demolished in the 1960s, either incorporating them into the house or displaying them in the grounds. ==Architecture==

Exterior and plan Gawsworth Old Hall is a timber-framed house in the Cheshire black-and-white tradition, The house is in mainly in two storeys. In the north range, and on the south front, the timber frame has been encased in brick, with timbering applied to its outer surface. Internally the roof trusses have been retained. Its plan is that of a U-shape with its open side facing the west, towards what was the courtyard. The main entrance is in the north range, leading into the Entrance Hall. To the west of this is the Library, and to the east, the Morning Room. The Entrance Hall leads into the longest range, the eastern range, consisting of the Long Hall, at the north end, and the Dining Room. The Long Hall was originally the Great Hall, and was open to the roof, but is now divided into two floors. To the east of the range extend the kitchen and the chapel. The Dining Room leads into a room now known as the Green Room, which is canted ten degrees to the east. This was also originally open to the roof, but was not a great hall. De Figueiredo and Treuherz are of the opinion that this was originally a larger, separate structure, probably a barn, and incorporated into the main building when the east range was built. Little of the south range remains. It originally contained domestic apartments, which formerly extended to join the now-demolished west range. In the angle between the Dining Room and what remains of the south range is the Drawing Room. The special feature of this room is a canted bay window on the north side, extending upwards for three storeys. The only dated item in the building is the Fitton coat of arms on the north front, which was carved by Richard Rany in 1570. To the west of the Entrance Hall is the Library. This is in the shape of a double cube, measuring by . Its major item is a richly carved Tudor chimneypiece. The bookcases were designed by A. W. N. Pugin. Both of these items were moved here by Raymond Richards, the bookcases coming from Scarisbrick Hall. From this area, a door leads into the chapel. This is the third or fourth chapel in the house, and was dedicated to Thomas More when he was canonised in 1935. Much of the woodwork in it dates from 1803. Many of the ornaments in the chapel were brought here by Richards from a redundant church in Ipswich. Two marble plaques in the chapel are by Thomas Thornycroft, a sculptor born in the nearby village. Alongside the chapel is an ambulatory or baptistry which contains a font and items of stained glass, made by Morris & Co. and designed by Edward Burne-Jones. These were obtained by Richards from All Saints Church, Birkenhead. The Dining Room leads to the small Guard Room, which contains two 17th-century chairs and an 18th-century blunderbuss. To the west of this is the Drawing Room, the principal living room of the hall, which has been little altered since the middle of the 16th century. To the south of the Drawing Room is a small room known as the Gold Room. This room has retained a frieze dating from the early 16th century, including carvings of Tudor roses, flowers and birds. Also in the room is a bust of Charles Gerard. In the southeast corner of the hall is the Green Room. This contains a painting of Gawsworth Rectory by Charles Tattershall Dodd, and a complete set of a dinner service by Minton, comprising 120 pieces. A staircase from the east of the Guard Room leads to the Gallery on the upper floor, to the south side of which is the Solar, containing a 16th-century four-poster bed known as the Boswell bed. It was formerly in Lympne Castle, Kent. The house's principal bedroom is the Hall Room, much of which has survived from the early 16th century. It contains a four-poster bed from the era of William and Mary and a portrait by Zuccaro of members of the Fitton family, which was formerly in Brereton Hall. A room next to the Hall Room has been converted into a modern bathroom, next to which is Mary Fitton's Bedroom, which contains an old plaster frieze. The other rooms on floor are the French Room, containing an 18th-century French bed, and a small bedroom known as the Griffin Room. Adjacent to this is the Billiard Room, which has exposed roof timbers. As well as the billiard table, the room contains a marble sculpture of Echo by Alfred Gatley and a bust of John Milton. ==Grounds==

Gardens Associated with the house is an inner garden of about surrounded by a parkland of about ; both are enclosed by walls. To the south of the hall the inner garden comprises a modern formal garden occupying the site of the original 16th-century formal garden. Beyond this, in the parkland, are the earthworks of an earlier garden. The parkland is almost square in shape, with a section curving out from the south border. It consists of "one huge grassed area" with "lumps and bumps". The Cheshire historian George Ormerod, writing in 1819, considered that this area contained a tilting ground for jousting. That claim is repeated in the hall's official guidebook, which goes on to suggest that it was created in the hope that Queen Elizabeth I would visit the hall on her royal progress, but she never did so. The excavations provided "a tremendous insight into the past, although not enough to date it with certainty". The 17th-century gatehouse is constructed in brick with ashlar dressings and a stone slate roof, in two storeys and three bays. The gate piers date from the late 17th or early 18th century. They are in painted ashlar surmounted by 20th-century ball finials. The garden walls were built in the 16th century, with later additions and alterations. They are constructed in brick with ashlar dressings. At the southern end is a large rectangular enclosure. In nearby woodland are the grave and memorial to Samuel "Maggoty" Johnson, A table tomb over the grave consists of an inscribed stone slab on a brick plinth. Adjacent to it is another inscribed stone slab, dating from the 19th century. ==Present day==

Gawsworth Old Hall is south of the village of Gawsworth, southeast of Macclesfield. Immediately to the west is the Grade I listed Church of St James, to the north beyond a fish pond is the Grade II* listed Gawsworth New Hall, and nearby is the Grade I listed Gawsworth Old Rectory. The Old Hall was listed Grade I on 25 July 1952. Grade I listing is granted to buildings of "exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important", and encompasses only 2.5 per cent of all listed buildings. Designation as Grade II* means that the site is "particularly important, of more than special interest". The hall is open to the general public at advertised times. There is a licensed tea room in the grounds, and the hall is also licensed for civil weddings. Ceremonies are conducted in the Long Hall, and receptions can be held in a marquee in the grounds. During the summer months plays, concerts and other entertainments take place in the open-air theatre close to the hall. ==See also==