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Crewe Hill and Attached Cottage - Grade II Listed Building
| Crewe Hill and Attached Cottage, Crewe-by-Farndon |
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Heritage England, official list entry
Location High Street, Farndon - SJ 42074 52708 Year listed 28 Nov 1984 Detail House and Cottage, apparently circa 1805 but extended circa 1890, fenestration altered late 20thc and containing a number of brought-in features of interest. Rendered with grey slate roofs. Mildly Gothick externally. Two storeys and three windows. The main block is symmetrical with flush central gable and projecting wing gables linked by a verandah. Gothick double doors with cross-casement over. Late 20thc square bay windows to lower storey of wings, with balconies above in front of oak French windows to bedrooms. An attached cottage forms a recessed lower wing right. Interior Central full-height hall has richly carved doors of oak left, right and to rear, perhaps late 16th/17thc, brought in open-string stair right, with winders, and stick balusters, leading to gallery with barleysugar balusters supported on two richly carved posts over front of hall; Jacobethan oak ceiling. Dining room (to rear) added circa 1890. The antiquarian creation of the open hall constitutes the chief interest of the building.
Farndon: The History of a Cheshire Village, Frank A. Latham (Ed.)CREWE HILL After leaving Wirral the Barnstons appear to have resided in Churton by Farndon for several centuries. The family home, Churton Hall, bears the date 1569 and this is described elsewhere. By the end of the eighteenth century they had a town house, known as Forest House, in Forest Road, Chester, which is now the site of a restaurant. The move to Crewe Hill was made some time early in the nineteenth century. It had formerly been used as a summer house. The date of the building of Crewe Hill is unknown but it is recorded that the dining room and the rooms above it were added in 1832; the year in which William Barnston was born. Several rooms contain family portraits and other objects of interest. Above the hall door, in stained glass, is the Gartside crest—a Greyhound (could this have any connection with the Farndon rhyme already mentioned?)—and also a Griffon—sometimes supposed (incorrectly) to be the crest of the Trafford family. The oak rails across the gallery were originally the Communion rails in a Chester church which was pulled down in the course of road widening. This may have been St. Bridgets church which was demolished in 1826 by an Act of Parliament in order that the new road, known as Grosvenor Street (which was to connect with the new Grosvenor Bridge), could be constructed. Also in the hall are six head pieces worn by the Royal Dragoon Guards at Waterloo, and four from the time of Charles I. Additionally, there are two native clubs similar to the knobkerrie still in use among the South African natives. One of these has six notches on the handle indicating the number of men killed. The oak chairs date mainly from the seventeenth century. The piece of elephant's tusk and the sword with the inlaid handle were brought from India by Col. King K. H. who 'particularly signalised himself during the investment and siege of the celebrated fortress of Bhurtpore on which occasion, with the help of a Capt. Lenard and two orderlies, he captured a native Rajah with his whole suite'. Col. King saw service there between 1823 and 1825. The colours in the hall were the original ones of the Royal Cheshire Militia, while those on each side of the dining room door were brought from Spain by Sir George de Lacy Evans (1787-1870). His exploits are described on page 56 of Letters of Queen Victoria. In the study is a curious chest, dated about 1550. This is similar to one in the museum at Hastings. It was formerly used as a safe and has nine locks. In the drawing room are relics of the Crimean War (1854-5) which include the medals of both William and Roger Barnston. There is also the gold watch which William Barnston wore at the Battle of Inkermann and referred to in a letter home from Scutari Hospital on November 24th, 1854.
'I was put on a stretcher, and carried to the doctor, who
His drinking and washing utensils are there, and also a short heavy Russian sword which he took from a dead soldier. In the book room is a volume of John Speed's maps. Outside a red sandstone arch was erected by Roger Harry Barnston in memory of a favourite dog, 'Jasper'. The Dog's Tomb was also put up by him to a setter called 'Bob'. The Village Pumps at Farndon and Crewe were installed by William and Mary Barnston. That at Farndon was erected by William in the 1850s, and the one at Crewe by Mary about 1877. In the winter of 1922-3 a portion of the flooring of Farndon church was taken up due to dry rot. Underneath, close to the family pew and lying in an parallel line with it, is a thick heavy gravestone with the following inscription: Vixit (he has lived) Thomas Barnston Died April 1646. Frank A. Latham (Ed.), Farndon: The History of a Cheshire Village, (1981), page 95-98 [This volume contains further detail about the Barnston family history - see History link in menu for download] Landed Families
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