The Old Hall Hotel is a public house and restaurant in High Street,

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East borough of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock, Cheshire, Wheelock. At the 2021 United Kingd ...

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. It was built in 1656 on the site of a previous

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, and since been extended. In the 18th century it was used as a

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...

and hotel. It closed as a hotel in 2005; it was unused for four years, and its fabric suffered serious deterioration. In 2010 the building was bought by Brunning and Price, a subsidiary of the Restaurant Group, who repaired and restored it. It was reopened as a public house and restaurant in 2011. The building is timber-framed, and 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 I

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 ...

History

The construction of the present building dates from 1656. It was built on the site of the previous

of the Sondbache family that had been built in the 13th century, but had been destroyed by fire. There is evidence of an even older building on the site dating from the 12th century. This had been a rectangular

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite material, composite building method in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called "wattle (construction), wattle" is "daubed" with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, and ...

structure with a turf roof serving as a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for the priests serving the nearby church. The present building was built by John Radclyffe, the son of Sir John Radclyffe, the

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

of Sandbach. The first phase of the building was rectangular, and was constructed in oak

timber framing Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

with wattle and daub

infill In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an Urban area, urban environment, usually Urban open space, open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any Greenfield land, ...

. Later an extension was built to the left; this was also timber-framed, but some brick was used at the rear. The building was further extended in the 18th century and the stables at the rear were enlarged. It then functioned as a

, and the

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

coach stopped to change horses. Passengers were encouraged to stay, and the inn was reclassified as a hotel. In the 19th century the hotel was part of the Crewe estate, and it was extended again, this time adding a carriage arch to the right wing. The building was restored in 1887 by John Stringer for the Crewe estate. During the Second World War the hotel was used to house American officers, who were visited here by General Patton. The hotel closed in 2005, and remained empty, its structure deteriorating. It was placed on the at Risk Register of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

at priority A, the highest grading. A pressure group was established, the Save the Old Hall Action Group, to campaign for is repair and restoration. In 2004 it featured in Series 5 of the television programme '' Most Haunted''. In 2010 the building was purchased by the Brunning and Price group of public houses, who rebuilt and restored it. It opened as a public house and restaurant in June 2011.

Architecture

Exterior

The building is timber-framed, with stone flagged roofs and brick chimney stacks. It stands on a

plinth A pedestal 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 civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

of brick and stone, it is in three storeys, and has four

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s on the front. Both the original part to the right, and the later addition to the left, which protrudes and is in a similar style, have two gables and are symmetrical. The building has a double pile plan. The gables contain restored

bargeboard A bargeboard or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to conceal the otherwise exposed end grain of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof. The word ''bargeboard'' is pr ...

s and

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s. The windows have moulded wooden

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s and transoms, and contain casements, and the windows in the middle storey have

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

s. The decoration of the timber framing includes lozenges and wavy motifs.

Interior

The left wing has a central entrance that leads to a corridor to an original oak

baluster A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

staircase at the rear, with two rooms on each side. In these rooms are three Jacobean fireplaces, 17th-century oak panelling, a left-handed spiral staircase, and a priest's hole.

Appraisal

The hotel is designated as a Grade I

. Grade I is the highest of the three grades of listing and is given to "buildings of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important".

Associated structures

There is a separate outbuilding to the rear of the hotel. This is timber-framed with brick nogging, and is in two storeys, with various openings for doors and windows. It is designated as a Grade II listed building. Grade II list the lowest of the three gradings, and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The building, previously used as stables, has been converted into private housing.

Notes and references

Notes Citations

External links

{{commons category, Sandbach Old Hall
Public house website
Buildings and structures completed in 1656 Grade I listed pubs in Cheshire Listed buildings in Sandbach Timber framed buildings in Cheshire