Description

SJ 45 SE CARDEN C.P. TILSTON LANE
(East Side)

8/46 Lower Carden Hall

22/10/1952

I

Hall (formerly home of the Leche family). North wing C15 or earlier
enlarged and re-fronted early C17; south cross-wing mid C16;
alterations and additions to rear by Carden Estate late C19. 2
storeys. Oak frame with plaster panels on sandstone plinth; north
end gable of stone and brick; massive projecting chimneys of stone
and brick on north gable and on south wall of cross-wing; rear wing
of brick; grey slate roofs of steep pitch, probably formerly
thatched.
Front gable of cross-wing has exceptionally heavy timbers, rectangular
panels to lower storey and chevrons to upper storey and gable. The
north wing (with 2 gabled dormers to front) has lighter small-framing;
an early C17 re-fronting of a medieval hall, it is not fully tied to
the earlier internal structure. Iron casements in oak subframes, with
restored leaded glazing, are probably C19. Features characteristic of
late C19 Carden Estate work include cross-boarded oak door in oak
case, bargeboards with 5-spiked finials and the shaped brick upper
parts of chimneys.
Interior: In the north wing 3 late-medieval crown-post trusses (of a
form and quality not yet found elsewhere in Cheshire) are of major
interest; and the early Elizabethan oak-framed structure of the
cross-wing is little altered.
The entrance hall (centre) has ingle-nook left (stonework remodelled
C19) with great oak bressumer and small fire-window, and C19 oak stair
of 2 flights, probably with early C18 turned balusters, right. The
former great hall (left) has 2 C17 heavy stop-chamfered oak beams, one
on 2 massive chamfered oak posts (which are in line with the former
outer walls of the medieval hall, beneath posts of roof-truss in
bedroom above), and ingle-nook (stonework altered C19) with great
oaken bressumer. The drawing room (right, in cross-wing) has painted
softwood small-panelling and an ornate corner cupboard, both early
C18, and an early Victorian iron grate under mantel of painted plaster
with swags and urns.
The trusses in the bedrooms shown that the medieval hall was widened
(and the first floor probably inserted) when the north wing was
re-fronted (early C17). The left bedroom has a heavy, shaped
arch-braced camber-beam (of the width of the former hall) between 2
posts (with central knot on soffite) carrying a moulded octagonal
crown-post. The left-middle bedroom has a truss of unmoulded square
timbers with an arch-braced camber-beam between 2 posts carrying a
braced square crown-post. The braces to camber-beam and crown-post
form a rough ogee. The right-middle bedroom truss, nobly massive, has
a shaped camber-beam with central knot, lengthened by C17 spliced
arch-braces (and showing the positions of the former medieval
wall-plates), carrying a moulded octagonal crown-post. The secondary
rafters in the north wing are replaced. The right bedroom (in the
cross-wing) has 2 queen-strut oak trusses and is stated to have
original secondary roof timbers (not visible).

Listing NGR: SJ4602252230

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Lower Carden Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q6693357

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)