Handforth Hall is a former

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 held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

in Handforth,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

, England. It is dated 1562, and was built for Sir Urian Brereton. Alterations have been made to it in the 17th century, and subsequently. The hall is a

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

building and currently consists of a single range, with two storeys and five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

. Originally it was either E-shaped or quadrilateral in plan. 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, a ...

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 I ...

. It was at one time the home of Sir William Brereton, a

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

commander in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

. Under a coved gable by the porch entrance there is an ornately carved inscription on the lintel, reading: "THIS HAULLE WAS BUYLDED IN THE YEARE OF OUR LORD GOD MCCCCCLXll BY URYAN BRERETON KNIGHT WHOM MARYED MARGARET DAUGHTER AND HEYRE OF WYLLYAM HANDFORTH OF HANDFORTHE ESQUYER AND HAD ISSUE VI SONNES AND II DAUGHTERS."

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Houses completed in 1562 Country houses in Cheshire Timber framed buildings in Cheshire Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire Grade II* listed houses 1562 establishments in England {{UK-listed-building-stub

See also

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