Hallwood is a former

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

house in

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. One wing of the house remains and was a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

called the Tricorn until its closure in 2017. Its former stables were converted into a function room for the public house. The remaining wing of Hallwood 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, ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

; the former stables are listed at Grade II.

History

It originated as a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

ed house which was possibly the home of the keeper of the deer park called Halton Park or Northwood to the south of Halton, and which was probably built in the second half of the 15th century. The present house was probably built by Thomas Chesshyre, an official of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is an estate of the British sovereign. The estate has its origins in the lands held by the medieval Dukes of Lancaster, which came under the direct control of the monarch when Henry Bolingbroke, the then duke of Lancast ...

, shortly before 1660. Some later alterations (notably a new baroque south façade and drawing room c.1720, now lost), probably to designs by Francis Smith, were made by his son, Sir

John Chesshyre Sir John Chesshyre (11 November 1662 – 15 May 1738) was an English lawyer who rose to the position of king's first serjeant. Family background Sir John Chesshyre was born at Hallwood, Runcorn, Cheshire, the son of Thomas and Catherine Ches ...

. In 1800, the house was purchased by Sir Richard Brooke of

Norton Priory Norton Priory is a historic site in Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire, England, comprising the remains of an abbey complex dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, and an 18th-century country house; it is now a museum. The remains are a scheduled ...

nearby. He commissioned plans, possibly from architect

Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737 – 8 February 1807) was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was primarily in a neoclassical style. C ...

, to modernise the house but they were not implemented. In the 19th century, the building was used as a boarding school called Hallwood Academy. Much of the house was demolished after it became unsafe from bombing in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The remaining part became the Tricorn public house which closed in 2017. The lost south façade bore considerable similarities to

Hockenhull Hall Hockenhull Hall is a mansion house to the southwest of the village of Tarvin, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* Listed building#England and Wales, listed building. Hocken ...

attributed to Francis Smith of Warwick.

References

Citations Sources *

History

See also

References

Further reading