
Sweetbriar Hall (also Sweet Briar Hall and other variants) 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 wooden ...
, "black and white" mansion house in the town of
Nantwich
Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...
,
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 coun ...
, England, at 65 and 67
Hospital Street. It has been designated by
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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
as a 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 ...
.
The hall was built for the
Woodhey branch of the Wilbraham family. The original date is probably 15th century, and the hall is often considered the oldest half-timbered building in the town not to have been encased in brick. The external appearance is early
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...
, with both
ornamental panelling Ornamental may refer to:
* Ornamental grass, a type of grass grown as a decoration
*Ornamental iron, mild steel that has been formed into decorative shapes, similar to wrought iron work
* Ornamental plant, a plant that is grown for its ornamental q ...
and
close studding
Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers ( studs) are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels. Rather than being a structural feature, the primary aim of close studding is to ...
. It was recorded in 1577, and is known to have survived the fire of 1583, which destroyed the adjacent building. It has been substantially altered from its original form, in particular with the addition of a pentagonal bay in the late 16th or early 17th centuries. The timber frame was covered with
render in the 18th century, and by the mid-20th century the hall had become very dilapidated. Restoration work was carried out by James Edleston in the 1960s.
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted e ...
, scientist and philosopher, is believed to have lived at the hall in 1758–61, while he was minister at the nearby
Unitarian
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present ...
chapel.
Sir William Bowman
Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet (20 July 1816 – 29 March 1892) was an English surgeon, histologist and anatomist. He is best known for his research using microscopes to study various human organs, though during his lifetime he pursued a suc ...
, histologist, ophthalmologist and surgeon, was born there in 1816.
Archeology

Pottery dating to the 12th century was found adjacent to the hall in 1974.
History
Sweetbriar Hall was built for the
Woodhey branch of the Wilbraham family, later associated with the country mansions of
Woodhey Hall and
Dorfold Hall. One of the leading Nantwich families, they had owned land in the town since the 14th century.
[Hartwell ''et al''., p. 498][Garton (1983), pp. 11, 23] It was known as Sweetbriar Hall in the Elizabethan era.
The date of the original building is often given as 1450;
[Whatley, plates 66, 67][Bilsborough, p. 47] some sources, however, estimate it as late 15th century to early 16th century.
[Lake (1983), pp. 40–41] The appearance of the building is typical early Elizabethan, that is mid-16th century.
The hall is generally considered to be the oldest half-timbered building in the town that has not been encased in brick.
[Vaughan, p. 25][Nicolle, pp. 24–25]
Hospital Street was the main road between London and
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 ...
; the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
St Nicholas Hospital, which gave the street its name, remained in use until 1548. Sweetbriar Hall would originally have stood at the eastern edge of the town. The north side of Hospital Street, where Sweetbriar Hall is located, was only sparsely occupied in the Tudor era; the south side of the street was marshy and little built on.
Much of the area north of the hall between Hospital Street and Beam Street was owned by
Combermere Abbey
Combermere Abbey is a former monastery, later a country house, near Burleydam, between Nantwich, Cheshire and Whitchurch in Shropshire, England, located within Cheshire and near the border with Shropshire. Initially Savigniac and later Cisterci ...
until its dissolution in 1538, being used as orchards, fields and gardens; it remained largely gardens and crofts when the first map of Nantwich was drawn in 1794. Other early buildings at the eastern end of Hospital Street include
number 116, a house of
Georgian appearance on the south side, which incorporates a substantially older timber-framed house, parts of which have been dated to the late 15th century.
Rebuilding of the hall is recorded in 1577, at the date when
Churche's Mansion
Churche's Mansion is a timber-framed, black-and-white Elizabethan mansion house at the eastern end of Hospital Street in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The Grade I listed building dates from 1577, and is one of the very few to have survived t ...
was built further east along Hospital Street.
The hall is known to have survived the fire of 1583, which reached the adjacent building and destroyed much of the centre of the town.
[Garton (1983), p. 82][Hall, p. 105] Richard Wilbraham's journal entry for the fire records:
:...there was consumed by the same ffyeer ... all the hospell strete vpon both sydes past the myddest thereoff & dyd staye at the howse of Thoms. wryghte opon y
e sowth syde of the strete: And at another howse of Mr. Wylbrahms. of Woodehey wherein Randull Maynewaring dwelled upon y
e north syde.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the hall was associated with the
Nonconformist movement. In 1672, it was briefly licensed for use by the
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...
preacher Robert Fogg; the owner was then John King. It was still owned by King in 1691, and occupied jointly by him and his tenant, the Reverend Samuel Lawrence. Lawrence was the minister of the town's first Presbyterian Meeting House in 1688–1712, and was a close friend of the well-known Presbyterian minister,
Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition of the Old and New Testaments' ...
.
According to some sources, the scientist and philosopher
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted e ...
lived at Sweetbriar Hall while he was in Nantwich in 1758–61.
[Lake (1981), p. 12] A red-brick former school at the rear of the hall dating from around 1701 has also been identified as Priestley's house. He was the minister of a
Unitarian
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present ...
chapel, now demolished, which stood on the corner of Hospital Street and Pratchett's Row, and also established a school in an adjacent building on Hospital Street.

In 1814, retired tobacconist and grocer Eddowes Bowman bought Sweetbriar Hall from the Leversage family. His son was
John Eddowes Bowman, a geologist and naturalist, and Sweetbriar Hall was the birthplace of his son, histologist, ophthalmologist and surgeon
Sir William Bowman
Sir William Bowman, 1st Baronet (20 July 1816 – 29 March 1892) was an English surgeon, histologist and anatomist. He is best known for his research using microscopes to study various human organs, though during his lifetime he pursued a suc ...
in 1816.
[Hall, p. 509–11] Eddowes Bowman and John Eddowes Bowman were partners in a bank that failed in 1816, leaving the family destitute. They left Nantwich that year, and the hall was sold to Mary Bennion, passing via her sister Elizabeth to the Butterworth family, who were still living there in 1892.
The hall was covered in
render during the 18th century.
[Simpson, plates 22, 23] An engraving published in
James Hall's ''History'' of 1883 shows the rendered front façade with hexagonal, octagonal, rectangular and diamond-shaped window lights, two 18th-century doorcases, several tall brick chimneys and an altered roofline.
In photographs from around 1900 to the 1950s, the hall has a
pebble-dashed
Roughcast or pebbledash is a coarse plaster surface used on outside walls that consists of lime (material), lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or Seashell, shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and ...
appearance and retains the old windows, doorcases and chimneys; a front garden enclosed by low iron railings is also present.
[Davies, pp. 21–22][Hurley, pp. 16–18] The railings had been removed by 1948, presumably during the Second World War.
The hall was listed on 19 April 1948, and was one of the first group of buildings in Nantwich to attain this status.
During the 1940s and 1950s the hall deteriorated, and by 1958 it was in a dilapidated condition.
Local architect James Edleston restored the building in the 1960s. The majority of the render was removed, as well as most of the old windows, one of the Georgian doorcases and several chimneys. The front garden also disappeared at this time.
Sweetbriar Hall is now divided into two houses.
As of 2012, number 65 is used as offices for the Bower Edleston architects' practice; number 67 is residential.
Description

Sweetbriar Hall is located at numbers 65 and 67 on the north side of Hospital Street ().
It stands at the junction with an old footpath, The Gullet,
now a pedestrian passage giving access to Wesley Close. Number 67 is now a separate building known as "Wayside".
The hall probably formerly included the adjacent numbers 69 and 71, also listed at grade II, completing the terrace.
The hall is a timber-framed, black-and-white, two-storey building under a tiled roof.
The original plan had a central hall with two cross wings, a typical rural mansion layout which is similar to that of Churche's Mansion.
One cross wing (east) would have been the parlour, the other (west) the service wing, including a buttery and kitchen. The projecting pentagonal wing was added to the end of the central hall in the late 16th or early 17th century.
The timber frame to the front façade and half of the west (left) side features
decorative framing, made up of small panels containing ornamental devices. Patterns include
chevron bracing with middle rails, often inverted, which forms herringbone patterns and diamonds.
This type of decoration is typical of early Elizabethan work (mid-16th century) and is also seen at
Little Moreton Hall
Little Moreton Hall, also known as Old Moreton Hall, is a moated half-timbered manor house southwest of Congleton in Cheshire, England. The earliest parts of the house were built for the prosperous Cheshire landowner William Moreton in about ...
(c.1504–1610).
[McKenna p. 13, Figure 28] Curved braces forming concave-sided diamonds are also present;
this is a common motif in Cheshire, also seen at Churche's Mansion,
Chorley Old Hall and
Blackden Hall
Blackden Hall is a country house to the northeast of the village of Goostrey, Cheshire, England. It dates from the later part of the 16th century, and there have been later alterations. It is constructed in timber framing and brick with p ...
.
[McKenna, p. 35] The ornamental panelling is not carried to the rear of the west face, presumably for cost reasons.
Close studding
Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers ( studs) are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels. Rather than being a structural feature, the primary aim of close studding is to ...
with a middle rail is used on the back half of the west face, as well as parts of the Hospital Street façade.
This mix of decorative framing with close studding is unusual in Nantwich; other examples are Churche's Mansion and two houses built after the fire,
46 High Street and 3 Church Lane.
[Lake (1983), pp. 106–11] The rear of the building has
small framing
Small may refer to:
Science and technology
* SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language
* Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back
* ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication
* <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text
...
.

In number 65, the west (leftmost) wing projects and is
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 aest ...
d; its Hospital Street façade has
jetties
A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...
to the first and second floors. The second bay has a central modern doorway. The pentagonal wing is a flat-roofed bay with a single jetty. The timber frame has been infilled with plaster and cement, and the windows in this part are all modern.
Number 67 has a gabled bay on the left, with small jetties to the first and second floors. In the right-hand bay, the 18th-century doorcase remains and is topped with 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 pedim ...
. Number 67 has two iron casement windows, which probably date from the 17th century, and have small rectangular lights. Much of the timber frame in this part remains concealed behind render.
The original plan has been substantially altered over the centuries, and the interiors modernised.
The internal beams of the former buttery are more crudely finished than those of the parlour, and this wing has a sandstone chimneystack.
The staircases date from the late 17th or 18th century; that in number 67 has latticework in the
Chinese Chippendale style.
The
roof truss
A timber roof truss is a structural framework of timbers designed to bridge the space above a room and to provide support for a roof. Trusses usually occur at regular intervals, linked by longitudinal timbers such as purlins. The space between eac ...
is unusual in having a short
king post
A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above f ...
from the collar beam.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It contains 132 listed buildings and structures, with three classified as grade I, seven as grade II* and 122 as grade II. In the United Kingdom, the ...
Notes
Subject setting for a novel by Dr. Jim Binkley, 'Mystery at Sweet-Briar Hall,' the tale of a Russian princess and a group of youngsters unraveling a sinister plot.
References
Sources
*Bavington G., Edge B., Finch H. ''et al''. ''Nantwich, Worleston & Wybunbury: A Portrait in Old Picture Postcards'' (Brampton Publications; 1987) ()
*Bilsborough N. ''The Treasures of Cheshire'' (North West Civic Trust; 1983) ()
*Davies G. ''Memory Lane: Nantwich'' (Breedon Books; 2002) ()
*Driver J.T. ''Cheshire in the Later Middle Ages''. ''A History of Cheshire'', Vol. 6 (Series Editor: J.J. Bagley) (Cheshire Community Council; 1971)
*Garton E. ''Nantwich in the 18th. Century'' (Cheshire County Council; 1978)
*Garton E. ''Tudor Nantwich: A Study of Life in Nantwich in the Sixteenth Century'' (Cheshire County Council; 1983) ()
*Hall J. ''A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester'' (2nd edn) (E.J. Morten; 1972) ()
*Harris R. ''Discovering Timber-framed Buildings'' (Shire Publications; 2003) ()
*Hartwell C., Hyde M., Hubbard E., Pevsner N. ''The Buildings of England: Cheshire'' (Yale University Press; 2011) ()
*Hurley P. ''Nantwich through Time'' (Amberley Publishing; 2010) ()
*Lake J.J. ''A History & Guide to Nantwich'' (1981)
*Lake J. ''The Great Fire of Nantwich'' (Shiva Publishing; 1983) ()
*Lamberton A., Gray R. ''Lost Houses in Nantwich'' (Landmark Publishing; 2005) ()
*McKenna L. ''Timber Framed Buildings in Cheshire'' (Cheshire County Council; 1994) ()
*Nicolle D. ''Francis Frith's Nantwich and Crewe: Photographic Memories'' (Frith Book Company; 2004) ()
*Schofield R.E. ''The Enlightenment of Joseph Priestley: A Study of His Life and Work from 1733 to 1773'' (Penn State Press; 1997) ()
*Simpson R.C. ''Crewe and Nantwich: A Pictorial History'' (Phillimore; 1991) ()
*Stevenson P.J. ''Nantwich: A Brief History and Guide'' (1994)
*Vaughan D. ''Nantwich: It Was Like This'' (Nantwich Museum; 1987)
*Whatley A. ''Nantwich in Old Picture Postcards: 1880–1930'' (European Library; 1992) ()
External links
Sweetbriar Hall photograph(before restoration)
{{coord, 53.06616, -2.51850, type:landmark_region:GB, format=dms, display=title
Houses in Nantwich
Houses completed in the 15th century
Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire
Grade II listed houses
Timber framed buildings in Cheshire