Bache Hall is a former

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Bache Places *Bache, Cheshire *Bache Peninsula, on Ellesmere Island, Canada People *Richard Bache (1737–1811), an American Postmaster General * Sarah Franklin Bache (1743–1808), his wife and Benjamin Franklin's daughter **Benjamin Franklin Bache ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, Cheshire. It replaced an earlier house that had been damaged in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. At one time a golf club house, then a hospital building, as of 2013 it provides residential accommodation for university students. The hall is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The original house on the site was bought in 1610 by

Edward Whitby Edward Whitby (c.1578 - 8 April 1639) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1614 and 1629. Whitby was the son of Robert Whitby, who was mayor of Chester. He was of Dunham on the Hill, Cheshire, and matricul ...

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

of Chester, but was demolished following the Civil War when it was occupied by

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

troops during the

Siege of Chester The siege of Chester occurred over a 16-month period between September 1644 and February 1646 during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Brereton and the Parliamentarians were ultimately successful in taking poss ...

. It was rebuilt in the early 18th century. During the 19th century it was the home of

Robert Spear Hudson Robert Spear Hudson (6 December 1812 – 6 August 1884) was an English businessman who popularised dry soap powder. His company was very successful thanks to both an increasing demand for soap and his unprecedented levels of advertising. After ...

, manufacturer of soap powder. From 1902 it was the clubhouse of

Chester Golf Club Chester Golf Club is an English golf club, located in Curzon Park, Chester, Cheshire. The club participates in competitions and inter-club matches. Set on two levels, the 18-hole parkland course is contained within a loop of the River Dee. T ...

. In 1911 the house was sold to the hospital which was originally a

lunatic asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

and is now the

Countess of Chester Hospital The Countess of Chester is the main NHS hospital for Chester and its surrounding area. It currently has 625 beds, general medical departments and a 24-hour accident and emergency unit. It is managed by the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Founda ...

. It has since been acquired by the

University of Chester , mottoeng = "He that teacheth, on teaching" , former_names = , established = (gained university status in 2005) , type = Public , endowment = £395,000 (2018) , budget = £118.3 million , chancellor = Gyles Brandreth , vice_chancello ...

and, as of 2013, provides residential accommodation for its students.

Architecture

Bache Hall, a former country house, is constructed in red brick with painted

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

dressings and a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof. It stands on a painted

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

. The building is in two storeys with attics. Its southeast elevation has a slightly projecting central portion. At the top of the central portion is a

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

and a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. The other windows on this elevation are

sashes Sashes Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Cookham Lock near Cookham, Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections. The island is located between Hedsor Water and the present navigation chan ...

. On this side of the house is a stone porch with

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s, between which are round arches, and has a moulded

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

. The southwest front contains two two-storey

bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...

s. On the northeast side is a 19th-century three-storey

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

ed wing with casement windows, and a 20th-century brick wing, also in three storeys. The house was designated as a Grade II listed building on 17 January 2001. It is the only listed building in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Bache. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades, and contains "buildings of national importance and special interest".

References

{{coord, 53.2067, -2.8964, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses completed in 1610 Houses completed in the 18th century Country houses in Cheshire Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Grade II listed houses University of Chester 1610 establishments in England