Alvaston Hall

About 1,000 years ago, a Saxon farmer called Aelfgar came here and built his farmstead, or "ton": thus he gave his name to Alvaston, which, before the Norman Conquest in 1066, was used by the people of Nantwich as a common, where they pastured their livestock and collected firewood and wild food. This expanse of heath and remnants of ancient woodland, known as Beam Heath, was bounded by "hedges, railes and the same to be kept severall from all foriners who have noe right nor good interest to any Common of pasture". All animals were 'bum-marked' by their Heath keepers, and the fines payable on each beasts' entry went towards the maintenance of the boundary: any stray or foreign animals from neighbouring villages were locked up in a "pound" or "Pinfold".

It is possible that a farm has stood on this site for at least 700 years, for the lords of Alvaston had cleared the land between the present hotel and the river before the townsfolk halted their progress in an agreement of 1285. A thirteenth century document refers to land and a house at Alvaston rented to the heirs of Agnes, daughter of Adam de Burton, for a "pair of white gloves". In 1824, the land bordering the present main road was enclosed into a regular patchwork of fields and lanes bordered by hawthorn hedges, still to be seen today. Because of strong opposition to enclosure - which endangered common rights - Beam Heath was not finally enclosed until 1870.

In the early 1800s, Alvaston Hall was known as "The Grove" and owned by a busy Quaker, banker and farmer, Croudson Tunstall. It was then bought and rebuilt by a Mr Frances Massey.

In 1896, Mr Arthur Knowles, a wealthy Manchester Industrialist, who had been involved in the Cheshire Hunt for many years, bought "The Groves" and changed it into a grand country house. It was re-named Alvaston Hall, and Mr and Mrs Knowles soon turned it into one of the centres of Cheshire social life. The architect responsible for the rebuilding, Edward Salamons of Manchester, used a style known as "Picturesque" or "cottage ornee", a hotchpotch of all kinds of architectural styles to lend its buildings a rural and romantic atmosphere. The effect is enhanced by the lack of symmetry, the mock timber framing, pinnacles, crested ridge tiles, gargoyle rain heads and the pretty clock tower. Inside the building one finds "Elizabethan" panelling and ceilings, "Georgian" fireplaces and ceilings, and a fine "Baroque" boudoir. The magnificent hall was used as a living room. It has a fantastic stained glass window, a large fireplace with Italian ironwork, all built in the country house style. A billiard room, refuge for the gentlemen after dinner, opened off the ladies' white panelled drawing room. A large conservatory has since disappeared, but has been replaced in the present hotel building.

Arthur Knowles spent much of his considerable fortune on Alvaston. He laid out lovely grounds, containing a cricket pitch, tennis courts, stables and a pretty lodge. A great barn-like building housed one of the first electric systems in England. The grounds were enclosed by a stone fronted ditch or "ha-ha". The present drive was laid out and planted on either side with lime trees as to give a tantalising glimpse of the Hall to an approaching visitor. The stables housed his private carriage and hunting horses, together with a string of race horses. He was particularly interested in the breeding of blood stock and his race horses won many sporting events. One, Jack Tar, was so successful that he was stolen from his stable one night. The thieves had covered his hooves with velvet to dull the sound of his abduction. After a frantic search, during which every Police Office in England was kept open and every Police Officer in Cheshire was on full alert, the horse was found abandoned in Holmes Chapel - too late for the race (shades of Shergar).

Mr Knowles fell ill after spending an afternoon at Haydock Park races in 1929 and later died. He had a simple funeral. His coffin was carried to Wistaston Church on a farm lorry and he was laid to rest next to his wife, who had died tragically in 1913. The "Goliath of the Manchester Coalfield" was no more. His business had already started to decline amid the first rumblings of the depression. Alvaston Hall, together with its contents, were sold by auction in 1930.

Local stories of Alvaston and its past glories are nearly all legend and "gossip". Cock fights in the great Cheshire Barn (still existing in the grounds) are true, but more difficult to believe is the story of the young wife of a previous owner, who died whilst throwing herself from an upstairs window fearing the house was on fire! As a result, the husband committed suicide by drowning himself in the nearby River Weaver. There appears to be no documentary evidence to support this story, but it is a fact that one heir to the property shot himself many years ago. At certain times, customers of the present-day hotel, having partaken of refreshment of the "SPIRITual" nature have seen the Beautiful Ghost of the young Victorian Bride!!

Reproduced by kind permission of the Management of Alvaston Hall Hotel, Middlewich Road, Nantwich.