TATTENHALL. Being a sketch of the Village of that name near . Together with some accounts of Historic events relating to the City and County of Chester. From Notes and writings By the Late R.O. ORTON.

Foreword.

Having found the following notes on ’s village and neighbourhood among my late father’s papers, and also that the reading of them considerably interested many friends, I decided, at their request, to place them in book form before the public, hoping they will meet with the same approval by the Tattenhall folk, as they have privately.

I would also like to add that in the arranging and compiling of these notes I have been very cheerfully and ably helped by Mr. Alec C. Reid, a very old friend of our family.

D. M. O. Bank House. Tattenhall. 29th February, 1908.

Introduction to a short sketch of Tattenhall.

It has been thought that it would not be uninteresting to the parishioners of Tattenhall, if a few notes were to be published of some of the changes in that time, in its appearance, and on its various inhabitants, their habits, customs, and traditions. It is not intended to write a history of the parish but merely to jot down such notes as may have been culled by the writer from various sources, or may have come down to him, as tradition, from some of the old inhabitants, long since dead. If any apology is needed for the writer venturing to publish this pamphlet, containing such jottings, it may perhaps be found in the fact that in these days of rapid progress, people are apt to forget or neglect the past history of their country, and whilst enjoying the countless privileges which they now have, fail to appreciate the greatness of those privileges, by not comparing them with the few advantages enjoyed by their forefathers. In these days of railways and steamers, electric telegraph and penny post, of cheaper newspapers and books, and above all, when compulsory education has enabled everyone of these means of knowledge, even in Tattenhall a working man may sit down after his day’s work and read in his halfpenny newspaper what has happened that morning in France or in America, or what is going on in China or Australia. People are now more inclined to live

in the present, taking as a matter of course every addition to their privileges which any fresh discovery in science may give them, and forget what their ancestors were, and what they would still have been, but for these wonderful discoveries. In the Law of Moses we read, (David. xxvi. 1-11), that when an Israelite brought his basket of first fruits as a thank-offering before the Lord, year by year, he was instructed to look back to, and confess the weak and helpless condition of his forefathers, and by this act of confession, increasing as he must have done, the gratitude which he felt for his own mercies. In like manner, one cannot but feel that a review, however slight, of the past history of even ones own neighbourhood, should increase our gratitude for, and make us more content with what we have, than many amongst us are inclined to be. Another reason why a slight sketch of the parish should be attempted now is that as education advances and the old generation who could not read is dying out, our oral traditions are being forgotten.

Local history is made up largely of tradition handed down from one generation to another. If these are not preserved it will be impossible almost to write anything of the past condition of any parish.

If, as has been said, history is merely a register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind, or if, as we used to imagine in our school days, it was chiefly a record of battles, sieges, and wars, then indeed our parish has little worth writing about. But if, as we would fain believe, the true history of a nation, as of every part of that nation, is the record of the material, moral, and

intellectual progress of the people who inhabit it, then I think that we may well say that Tattenhall has a history. Although none of the so called great ones of the earth have perpetrated their crimes, or suffered their misfortunes here, and no great battle has perhaps made the name of Tattenhall famous, yet-

“Beneath those spreading elms, that yew trees shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep”.

...of whom it may be said,

“Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke, How jocund did they drive their team afield, How bowed the wood beneath their sturdy stroke”.

If we may truly say, that he who cultivates the soil, and makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before, has been a far greater man than he who simply devastates and lays waste the land by war, then we may claim that the forefathers of our parish who lay under the old elms in our God’s acre, have done something, each in his own way, to help forward the material progress of this country, and make the history of that of which today we are justly proud.

Tattenhall. Part 1. When we stand on the highest ground of Tattenhall at the foot of the Hills, and look over the fertile fields, and mark the many neat and comfortable houses and farmsteads, which form now what we call our parish, or if we walk through it, along its well kept roads, and notice how carefully every roadside waste, even every rough and straggling fence has been re-claimed and made productive, it becomes difficult to picture it to ourselves as it must have appeared to our first Saxon forefathers. Still, we have data to guide us in a rough or general description of what was the general appearance of our country.

Had the first settlers coming westward through the pass, now called Fowler’s Bench, looked down from the slopes of the Burwardsley Hill, he would have seen before him in general contours, as we see it now, the western portion of the great plain of . But instead of green fields and hedgerows he would have seen the hillsides on either hand covered with broom, heather and furze, which, unchecked by the improving hand of man grew luxuriantly, mixed with hawthorn and other bushes and trees, along the hilly land on his left hand, as far as the eye could reach, that is, under Harthill and Bolesworth as far as the wild moor between Tattenhall and Handley. To his right stretched far away from the foot of the hill on which he stood, he would have seen what centuries after as still known as Tattenhall Wood, but then was a portion of the primeval forest running along the foot of the hills and on to Beeston Rock, and covering with its grand old

oaks, ashes, elms and undergrowth, all that part of our parish which is known as The Lanes, together with part of Newton.

Immediately in front of him, down in the plain and valley, he would probably see what would be more attractive to him seeking for a ham or home, an abiding place, the gleam of water and the green tints of grass mixed with the brown colour of the heather. Making his way down the slopes. or as he would still call it, the “Halla”, he would emerge upon the plain and find that he was not disappointed, but that the grassland was rich and good, as the marks of the roe and the fallow deer which fed upon it told him. Going on still further he would reach the water, and find that what looked to him perhaps like a river, was really a shallow lake, or marsh, caused by the overflowing water from a little stream, which being stopped continuously in its course, by reeds etc, had overflowed and turned what is now our meadow land, lying between the higher land on each side, into a marshy swamp, (sometimes covered with water, sometimes partially), in which grew plenty of reeds and rushes, alder and hazel bushes.

Here our Saxon ancestor fixed his home, and by the marshy lake, sheltered by the hills and forest land from the cold north and east winds, and open to the west and south, he built his house of timber, wattle, and mud, thatched with rushes, using most likely for that purpose the oaks of the adjacent forest, the hazel and alder branches of the marsh, and the clay which he found so abundantly all around. The sheds for his cattle would be built of the same material as his house, and placed close

to, the whole probably being surrounded by a fence of stakes or wattles, as much as a protection against savage invaders, as against wild beasts, and as a fold for his cattle, sheep or swine.

In course of time other settlers followed the first one, liking the sheltered spot, and built their thatched, mud houses near. But these would mostly be dependent in different degrees on the first one, who, having taken the precaution to mark out his manor, or demesne, by the natural boundaries of woods, or hill, or stream, suffering the rest to settle on what he would consider his land, only on condition of service of some kind rendered.

In this manner, Tattenhall became a place in the earth, and one of the many “Hams”, or “Tuns”, (called after the Norman Conquest “vills” or villages!), which, by the end of the tenth century was scattered over the whole of England. How it obtained its name we have no record. It may possibly be derived from Tatt, the name of the first settler, and Halla, a slope, and so have meant the Sloping land of Tatta, or possibly from Tath, the right to fold. It is the only place of this name in England. These are however merely guesses. In the Saxon Chronicles written in the 14th century, we find it called “Teotanheal”, and in Domesday Book “Tatenhale”, while in the 15th century it was the residence of a family called after the parish Tattenhall, sometimes spelt in the abbreviated form “Tatnall”

The Roman soldier from the city of Deva may have come out so far to hunt wolves or to chase the wild deer in the thick woods, or over the gorse-clad commons, and the

Britons may have built their leafy huts under the shelter of the spreading oaks. Of the early history of Tattenhall, that is the first seven or eight centuries after the Roman invasion, we have no record. During the 9th and 10th centuries however, it must have increased considerably, and become a larger and more important settlement than many of the surrounding Hams or Tuns. We may, I think, gather this from the entry in Domesday which will be considered more fully later on. And we may also imagine from its position only seven or eight miles from the important “City of the Chester, then “Laega Ceaster”, or the “City of the Legion” that it suffered, as Chester did, from the ravages of the neighbouring Welshmen, and from the various invasions of the Picts and Scots and more especially from the Danes. Indeed, it is only in connection with these latter people that we find Tattenhall mentioned before the conquest. The Saxon Chronicles inform us that during the 9th and 10th centuries the Danes overran Mercia, and in A.D. 894-5 they burned Chester. In the year 894 their fleet sailed up the estuaries of the Dee and the Mersey and they ravaged this part of the country. The following year however, the Saxon army of King Alfred, under the command of Earl Aethelred, his son-in-law, came northward into Cheshire, and having destroyed the corn, and driven away all the cattle for several miles round Chester, compelled the invaders to flee into .

This Earl of Mercia was the husband of Aethelflaeda, Alfred’s daughter, who, on her father’s death a year or two after, proved herself a worthy daughter of the great King Alfred, and assumed the reins of power, and ruled for many years over Mercia. To prevent the incursions of

the Welsh she built the castle at Schochlach and that at Oldcastle, and against the Danes she built and other castles on the shores of the Dee and the Mersey, as also the City of Eddisbury in the Forest, the ruins of which are now called the Chamber of the Forest. By this means she stemmed the tide of invasion for some years. In 910 a large number of Danes again landed in Wirrall, and by pre-concerted arrangements their countrymen, who had been for a long time settled in Norfolk and Lincoln, marched across England to join them, marching by way of , or Cnut’s-ford. The united army of Danes were met by the Saxon army, which had marched northwards, at a place called by the Anglo-Saxons Chronicle, “Teotanheal”, and defeated with great slaughter, so that they no more invaded Cheshire for 70 years.

Whether our parish was the site of this great and decisive battle is doubtful, (Greens “Conquest of England” calls the place “Totenhale” but does not mention locality). So far as I am aware, there is no local tradition of such a battle, nor does there exist any barrow, or cairn, which most likely would have been raised for the burial of the dead. , in Staffordshire has been claimed by some historians as the site of the battle, but the late Sir J.A. Picton and others, contend that that place is too far south, and that Tattenhall, near Chester, must be the place, as being just about the position where the two armies would be likely to meet on their lines of march. At any rate, whether Tattenhall was a battle ground or not, the little Saxon settlement or hamlet, must have suffered much from the loss of its cattle and corn, driven off, or

destroyed, both by friend and foe, during many years of predatory warfare.

During the 150 years that followed, the hamlet of Tattenhall increased size more than many of the surrounding ones up to the time when the followers of the great Norman Conquest overran all England, for we find from the Domesday Survey that when in the year 991, Aethelred the Unready, to satisfy the demands of the Danes, who were still troubling the eastern and southern counties, levied on a tax (which was afterwards called the Dane Geld), and which was levied on the land, or at least on such land as was ploughable in each settlement, it was found that in Tattenhall five hides of land, probably equal to 600 acres, were rateable, whilst in other manors the land found rateable varied from half a hide (60 acres) only, to four hides, or 480 acres. From about 910 to 1065 Cheshire seems to have been tolerably free from invasion, and as the population increased, waste land was gradually re-claimed, the best land no doubt being cultivated first, until in the reign of Edward the Confessor, something like one fifth of the manor, or what is now called the Township of Tattenhall, was ploughable. It must not be understood however, that all of this was ploughed each year. Much of it was in pasture, and part of it always lying fallow, but it was ALL chargeable to the “geld”. This “gelt” was, I believe, the first tax levied in England, and was really a land tax, a certain sum being demanded from each Hundred, which was apportioned amongst the various Townships according to the number of hides of land cultivated in each.

It was perhaps during this period, in the reign of the Confessor, that the first church was built in Tattenhall, and that the district was called a parish, though both may have been formed earlier. It is said that the wise Edward first formed Parishes, each district occupied by a certain number of families being called a parish, and the larger territory, containing a hundred families he called a Hundred. But wherever the Hundreds were formed, it is more probable that the parishes, or as they called them in Cheshire, the Townships, were merely the ancient Manors or the lands claimed by the original Saxon settlers, having, as has been before mentioned, boundaries, fairly well defined by water courses, woods, or some other natural feature. Civil Parishes must not be confounded with Ecclesiastical Parishes. Whilst the former were for the most part, as has just been stated, co-extensive with the manors, the latter were not defined until many years after the Norman Conquest, when their boundaries were finally settled by Honarius, Archbishop of Canterbury, and extended in most cases over several Townships, the centre of such being a church, which had been built by some Lord of a Manor, generally where the population was largest, for the pious use of his tenants, retainers and serfs. After the fatal Battle of Hastings, when , the last of the Saxon kings, lost his Kingdom and his life, and the Norman, Duke William, seized all England, as his by right of conquest, it fared ill with the poor Saxon Lords of Manors. The thegns and Freemen, who had lived on, and ruled their lands and parishes for so many years, almost every one of them was deposed, and his place and possessions taken by the new comer. In the division of the spoil, Cheshire was given by the

Conqueror to his nephew, Hugh Lupus, whom he created , and to whom he gave almost regal authority, so that Cheshire was called a County Palatine, and had a parliament of its own, the Earl’s Council being composed of his Barons. The Earl divided the Manors of this County amongst his own retainers, and to William Malbedeng, Baron of Wich-Malbank, (i.e. ) fell, with many other Manors, that of Tattenhall. Poor Ernwin, (spelled Ernuin by Norman scribes), the Saxon Freeman, whose home and Manor it had been, either being altogether driven away, or being made a sub-tenant of the newcomer. It was not without a long continuous struggle that the brave Saxons yielded to the invaders, and many were either killed or driven away by the steel clad Norman robbers, so that in many parts of Cheshire the land which had been cultivated, again became waste. It was in the year 1084 that the King gave command for a survey of the whole country, with a special reference to the quantity of land rateable in each parish, and the number of holders of land etc. The account of each parish is very brief, that of Tattenhall being as follows; “William Malbedeng holds of Earl Hugh, Tatenhale. Ernuin held it and was a freeman. There are v hides ratable to the geld. The land is vi carucates. One is in the demesne, and ii. villeins and ii boudars have another, and a foreigner a third. There is a league of wood. In King Edward’s time it was worth xx shillings now xxvi: It was waste”. Golborn Bellow is described as follows: “The same William holds Golborne. Loten held it. There is half a hide ratable to the geld. The land is one carucate, which is in the demesne and (there are) ii neatherds, with i

villein and iii borders. There is a winter mill. It (the Manor) was worth v shillings, now vi shillings. (The Earl) found it waste. This William Maldebeng, to whom was granted the manors of Tattenhall and Golborne, and many other Manors in other parts of Cheshire, was Baron of Wych Maldebeng, afterwards Nantwich, and one of the eight Barons created by Earl Hugh Lupus. Unlike Ernwin, his predecessor, he was a none residential landlord, letting his land, or such part of it that was cultivable, to the Villeins Bordarii and Neatherds. These Villeins must not be thought of as persons of desperate character but hard working farmers, holding their land on condition of doing to their Lord the lowest service, being often, indeed, little better than serfs or slaves. The Bordars, or Bordarii, were also small cultivators of the land, but for whom were provided houses, and who, in addition to other services were bound to provide their Lord with poultry and eggs. It will be noted that in Golborne, the whole of the cultivatable land is in the demesne, that is, in the possession of the Lord of the Manor. In addition, therefore, to the Bordars and the Villeins we find that there are two Neatherds who look after their Lords cattle. There must of course, have been other inhabitants, besides these mentioned as the servarii or serfs, who tilled their Lords demesne land, and other neatherds and swineherds, and the miller who kept the winter mill. It was called a winter mill probably because it depended on the winter rains for its water supply. The site of the mill was in the “Owler” or “Oeler” meadow, near the present Railway Station, but somewhat north of it, and the evidence in favour of this is, that the fields adjoining the road

kleading from Chester Road to Frog Hall is still called the “Pool Head”. (Pooyed is the dialect!), while the fact that was formerly written “Golborn Belleau” or “Golborn de Bella Aqua” shows that there must have existed a fine piece of water which distinguished that portion of the Manor from the other portion known as Golborn David. This water may have been the pool, formed by damming up the brook,and so turning the low lying lands from Pool Head to the Rushal Hall road, into a shallow lake. But it must not be forgotten that that portion of Golborn, now part of Handley Parish, in 1084, formed with Golborn Bellow* one Manor, and the winter Mill may have been lower down the brook.

End of part 1.

* Golborne Bellow. We are told Bellow was originally written “Bella Aqua” or “Belle Eau”, meaning “good” or “beautiful water”. This would be no doubt the Norman renderibg of the Anglo-Saxon “Gould-Burn” meaning a golden or beautiful brook, that is, pure or excellent water.

Tattenhall. Part ii.

After the defeat of the English under King Harold at Hastings by William the Norman, and the taking of Chester some time after by the said William, Cheshire, like the rest of England, fell into his hands.

The greater part of Cheshire William gave to his nephew, Hugh of Avranche, otherwise Hugh Lupus, and this with the Saxon title of Earl. Hugh Lupus is said by some to have been the son of a sister of Edwin, Earl of Mercia, who was grandson of Loefric, husband of the well known Lady Godiva of Coventry fame. If this be right, then Lupus, (or Wolf), would have had English blood in him, which may account for the old English title being conferred on him with the gift of Cheshire.

This Earl Hugh Lupus let or gave the present site of Tattenhall to William Malbedeng, Baron of Wich- Malbank, (now Nantwich), and of him we read that he gave “the church and tenths of Tattenhall” to the Abbey of St. Werburgh. This seems to show that there was already and without doubt a church at Tattenhall, and at the time of the Norman usurpation of England. It is possible the date of the first church here may go back to the time of Wulfhere, son of Penda, who was King of Mercia, and reigned from 656 to 675, as, in his reign, Christianity was established throughout Mercia. Penda, father of Wulfhere, being “the last unshaken and powerful

adherebt” of the worship of Odin and Thor, among the Anglo-Saxon Kings. The church was no doubt, in the usual way, built on the site of the “thing-stead” or “moot ground” of the original Saxon or English settlers, and where one, or more of their Aethelings, or Chiefs, had probably been “mounded” or buried. A “hall” as a dwelling for the Aetheling, or Thegn, as the head of these first settlers, would of course be built long before the church, and this was very probably on the exact site of the present Hall, as in the days of which we speak, two if not three sides of the hall would be protected from the attacks of enemies, by fen or marsh land, and this would be a great consideration for an Anglo-Saxon living at no great distance from the Welsh border. Ernwin, the English holder of the lands around Tattenhall and Waverton at the time of the Norman invasion, possibly lived in this hall, and he may have died defending his house, or have been driven from it by the Norman robbers as they seized on his possessions. After the Ville (Saxon “Ham” of Tattenhall had been held by the Barons of Wich-Malbank, already mentioned we find the manor was given by Randal Gernous, to Henry Touchet and the Lords Audley. In the year 1496, on the attainder of James Tuchet (or Touchet), Lord Audley, the manor was forfeited to the Crown. It was then granted to the Chapter of Chester, but lost after the Reformation, and was sold about the year 1600 by the Cotton’s to the Egerton’s, from whom it passed to Sir John , of . In 1804, Thomas Tarlton, of Bolesworth Castle bought it from the Crewe’s. We know but little of the generality of the folk, and the lives they led, during much of the times mentioned in the

sketch given above, but the following description of the people of Cheshire from the writings of Lucian, a monk of the 11th or 12th century is interesting. “The people of Cheshire are seen especially to feast in common, are cheerful at meals, liberal in entertainment, hasty but soon pacified, talkative, averse to subjection and slavery, merciful to those in distress, compassionate to the poor, kind to relations, not very industrious, plain and open, moderate in eating, far from designing, bold and forward in borrowing, abounding in wood and pasture, and rich in cattle”. Soon after the writing of the above, some improvement and comfort would begin to be felt in the homes of the better class of the folk, as in, or about 1180, glass began to be used for windows of private houses, which must have hailed as a great blessing by numbers, though the poor may not have benefited much from it for some time after. The wages of the folk during the Plantagenets is also curious and interesting, and may perhaps be noted. Haymakers in those days received 1d a day, labourers 1.5d per day, (I couldn’t write one penny and halfpenny!), carpenters, 2d and masons 3d. This shows the difference in the value of money between those times and ours. About the year 1264, Tattenhall and District must have been excited and effected, for at that time there seems to have been trouble with the Welsh and other rebels, as we note that “Earl Derby defeated Lord Zouch, David, brother of Llewllyn, Prince of Wales, and James, Lord Audley, and took Chester.

The above would have taken place in the reign of Henry iii. when the Barons were enforcing their right from the King. In the reign of Edward i. 1272-1307. mention is made of Sir Thomas Touchet, Lord of Whitley, Buglawton, and Tattenhall, but no more than the name of the village is given. In the first year of Edward ii. 1308, Tattenhall is mention in the Recognizance Rolls of Chester, where several gentlemen, including Alan de Tatenhale and Robert Hayward, of Tatenhale, are named as before Lord Robert Holand, Justice of Chester, “ recognizance for five marks for the corn of Henry, son of William de Tatenhale, a felon. Reference is made again respecting the Touchet’s and Lord Audley in the tenth year of Edward ii. or about 1316 thus; “Man jone, from whom Touchets of Whitley, and Agnes, from whom Lord Audley”. About sixteen years after the above note occurs the following:- “1332. Thomas, son of John de Golborn, with his two brothers, William and John, found surities for a fine of 50 marks. Among these was William Fylkyn, (Philipkyn, or Little Phipip!), of Tatenhale”. For the above note we are indebted to an able paper written by Mr Gaythorpe in the “Chester Courant”, about 31st May 1899. If tradition may be believed, about 1380, a windmill was built on the left of the Burwardsley Road, just out of Tattenhall village, on the spot where now stands Windmill House, at present occupied by Mrs Thomas Cooke. This mill was burnt down in about 1839 or 1840. There may have been an earlier one even than 1380.

1403/4. Again was Tattenhall wildly excited, and we may be assured well awake, for various gentlemen, among whom is mentioned Thomas le Belewe, (whose name reminds us of Golborn Bellow), were appointed that proper beacons were builded on the Cheshire Hills, doubtless Raw Head the chief one, to be ready to be fired in the event of Owen Glendower, the Welsh rebel, invading Cheshire. Also in 1403, we are told that “Cheshire men joined Lord Percy, and very many fell at Shrewsbury”, but we are not especially told whether among those were any from Tattenhall, but it is quite likely the village was represented in that famous fight. In 1478, August 9th, Mr Gaythorpe tells us, we found a rector of Tattenhall thus mentioned., “Dus, Ricardus Oldom, Caps”. He died 1506. Towards the end of the reign of Henry vii. or the beginning of that of Henry viii. the present tower of the church was built. A noticeable feature about this tower, is that the same masons who built it also built Handley Church. Both towers bear the same “masons marks”, that is, a species of crook. The date of the tower is adjudged by some to be 1512. The resemblance between the towers of Handley and Tattenhall Churches is very marked. At the top of Handley tower, however, on the west face, there is still to seen a shield carved on the stone, with a coat of arms thereon, but this is not on Tattenhall Church tower. Both towers are grand relics of the past, and tell us, or remind us, of some of the deeds done of old, when church towers were often used as watch towers and “vantage points” during unsettled times.

We can picture to ourselves in the last great Civil War in England, during the time Colonel Leigh’s were quartered in Tattenhall how the stern Puritan sentinels were posted on the top of the church tower in the day time, there to watch the country around, and quickly to report if any of “The Lords Accursed”, as they loved to call the Royalists, were seen approaching. The daytime watching seems to have been too well and truly kept up to suit the Kings men, as they chose to make a night attack, (see further on), on the 9th January 1645, when the issued from Chester, rode into Tattenhall, and carried some prisoners back with them to the City. A Chester gentleman, resident in Tattenhall some time ago, used to say he loved to stand, on a fine night, at the church entrance gates, and gaze at the old tower, and so, in thought, get carried back a few centuries. Visitors to the church will find the tower well marked and chipped about its base, as though it had stood at some time a siege, and bore the marks of the fray. These marks, however, are said by old inhabitants to be bullet marks in reality, but they were made by gentlemen who practised ball shooting two or three generations ago, and who used to fix their targets on the tower as the best and safest place for the work. 1580. Mention of Tattenhall occurs again, as we now learn, “Filkin of Tattenhall”, “Piers Filkin mar. Jane, dau. of John Davenport of Calverley”. These Filkins or Fylkyns were for several generations of Tattenhall, and became extinct in the male line by death of Peter Filkin, Esq. in 1750. In Edward Burghall’s diary, 1628-1663, (Minister of Acton), we find the following;

1632. “A notorious drunkard in Tattenhall died as he had lived, calling for pots and naming his hostesses just before his death”. Qualia vita finis ita. 1643. J. , of Tattenhall, Councillor at Law, and Clerk of the Council, was, being found guilty of an offence at Nantwich, adjudged to stand at the highest place of the market with a paper on his breast signifying his offence. 1645. “Much fighting in this part of Cheshire. January 9th. The enemy, (Royalists), issued out of Chester, and in the night came to Tattenhall, and took many of Colonel Leigh’s horses, arms, and men who quartered there. 1646. Chester was taken, and Beeston Castle was demolished. 1646. Dr Moreton was sequestered from Tattenhall for delinquency, and Mr Francis Smith was appointed in his place. April 16th 1646. “Reverend Francis Smith, Minister of the Committee of the Assembly of Divines to officiate ye cure of Tattenhall in ye County of Chester. It is ordered that from henceforth ye said Rectorie shall stand sequestered to the use of Francis Smith a godly and orthodox divine and that he doe henceforth officiate ye cure of ye said church and Rectorie, and preach diligently to ye parishioners there, and he shall have for his pains ye parsonage house and glebe lands”.

September 4th 1647. “Under the certificate of John Crew and Jonathon Bruen, Esquires, two justices of the County of Chester, “John Bruce, Thomas Breese, (Bressie), Thomas Buckley, and Thomas Dod, of Tattenhall, were summoned on the complaints of Mr Smith, that they refused to pay their tythes unto the aforesaid Mr Smith,

and by their said practices, divers persons are encouraged against their Minister, and, it being certified by the said Justices, that the Ordinance of Parliament for payment of tythes cannot be put into execution without bloodshed, it is therefore ordered, that the Sergeant-at-arms of ye House of Commonds, bring ye said John Bruce, Thomas Breese, Thomas Buckley, and Thomas Dod ,in safe custody, to answer their contempt, and all Justices of ye Peace,etc, are desired to aid and assist in the execution thereof”. September 23th 1647. “The cause was heard, and the said J Bruce, Th Breese, Th Buckley and Th Dod, were continued in custody until they have given Mr Smith satisfaction”. September 24th 1647, “The above parishioners of Tattenhall having now given satisfaction to Mr Smith for the tythes and profits from them due to him, it is ordered that they shall be discharged”. The Reverend Francis Smith, spoken of above, and who instituted the proceedings against J Bruce and others, seems not to have been in any way popular with the Tattenhall folk, as we read that; “Mr Francis Smith, ....meeting with great opposition from the parishioners, retired, and was succeeded by Josias Clarke, at the end of the year 1647, but he (Clarke) died December 9th 1658. In 1660, Doctor Moreton, returned and was restored, and seems to have held office until 1674/5, when he died in March of one of these years. Mr Tarbuck, son-in-law of Doctor Moreton, succeeded to the living of Tattenhall, but he died a few moths afterwards, “when a curate of blameless life” continued the services, until Henry Newcombe, son of Henry

Newcombe, ejected in 1662 from Manchester Collegiate Church, was presented and held the living until 1701. A.D. 1670. (or about this time). The Bear Inn, recently rebuilt, became the property of or was held by the family of Price. The old thatched roof building, standing further back from the road than the present one does, with the old horse mounting steps on the right of the door as one approaches it, and its old-fashioned bow windows on the left, and its quaint sign over the door of the Bear and Ragged Staff, was very picturesque and pleasing to the eye. The Landlord, the late Mr George Price, said, in the year 1870, that the house had been in his families holding or possession, for about two hundred years or more. At the time we are speaking of the property was then, and had been for years before owned by the Price family. Mr Price shewed in some of the rooms quaint writings and signatures, which had been done on the window panes by gentlemen in bygone days, with their diamond rings. He knew the history of his house, and stated that at one time the house had belonged to the Earls of Warwick, and had been used as a resting place and house of call, on their journeys between Warwick and Chester, or when business compelled them at times, to be in, or near Chester. Some panes of glass had been taken from the windows and were kept in a place of safety by Mr Price, which bore (as said and believed), some writing actually done by the Warwick family. The above information was told through a Warwickshire gentleman who was passing through the village, and noticing the sign over the door, going in, and asking why that sign was in use in Cheshire?. Whereupon Mr Price

gave the story of the house, and said the sign was taken in first place from the Arms of the Earls of Warwick, namely, “The Bear and Ragged Staff”. 1675. In this year Sir John Crewe was Lord of Tattenhall, and Sir James Bradshaw then lived at the present Hall. 1686. Under this date we find the following note;” School Estate in Tattenhall purchased by Mr Lea, of Darnhall, about 1686, and settled on Trust, to provide education for the children of Whitegate, Over and Weaver”. “No girls to remain at school longer than nine years of age, or (after) they could read English. To go to school from April to September at six o’clock. September to March, at 7-30, to dinner at 11.00, back to school 12.30, and leave in Summer at 6.00 in winter at 4.30”. 1715. “Bressie Green Chapel erected for particular Baptists in 1715 by Thomas Walley, of Rhode Street”.

Dissent in Tattenhall. 1763. “Parish Registers 1763 note that in Tattenhall (there are) three Dissenters, a Quaker and two Baptists”. 1764-85. “The wave of revival, however, reached Tattenhall, and in 1764/5 we find from Wesley’s journal that the great preacher of Methodism visited this parish on several occasions. There must probably have been a considerable number of Methodists here, for he seems to have come on a special visit to Tattenhall as far as from . There is a tradition that he preached several times in the “Old Barn”. (This stood on the opposite side of the road to “Alpha House” but was taken down about a year or two back!), still standing at the entrance of the village from Chester.

“I do not think, however, that Methodism flourished very much here, probably it may have been that the rector who then held the living Reverend Dr. Poploe, who, though to a great extent, “not resident”, was a great benefactor to the poor and to the church, and employed several excellent curates. He himself was a pluralist, being, whilst Rector of Tattenhall, also Rector of Worthendon, Chancellor of Chester, and Archdeacon of Richmond. The last decade of the 18th century however, saw a very different man in the church pulpit. Thus was the Reverend Dr. Markham, son of the Archbishop of York, who, after several years with his principal parishioners about the tythes, (which ended in a great lawsuit, finally decided by seven Judges in the Queen’s Bench, against the Rector, resigned the living”. “After however preaching his farewell sermon, a bitter one, from the text, “Finally, brethren, farewell”, the Bishop of Chester refused to accept his resignation, and he was compelled to hold the living for about eleven years longer, though having made a vow not to preach in Tattenhall. He was none resident, and employed Curates in sole charge.” “One of these, a decent Christian man, kept a school for boys, at the Rectory, which was then a low, studdoed house, partly thatched,. He died early in life and lies buried in the Churchyard just opposite the Chancel”. His successor was a very different kind of man, and in his day spiritual religion was at a low ebb in the church. He certainly had not learned to obey St. Paul’s injunction to Timothy “To rule his own house well”, having his children in subjection in all gravity. “On one occasion, after afternoon service, he came out of the vestry and found the greater part of the congregation

forming a ring in the churchyard to witness a fight, previously arranged, between his own son, and a noted bruiser from a neighbouring parish. This was narrated to me by one of the congregation then present. “The fight took place, and it is reported the parson’s son proved himself the better of the two contestants”. At the end of the 18th century many parishes were in the same condition as Tattenhall. There was a famine of the Word of God, and no wonder, therefore, that “as the surrounding nations went down to Egypt to buy corn”, so the people flocked from this and neighbouring parishes to hear the gifted young curate, who had begun to preach in Coddington Church the simple Gospel of Justification by Faith alone, in the Righteousness of Christ”

Notes from the Tattenhall Register. Population and religion.

1763. There was on 25th March in this year; Goulborn. 13 households 59 inhabitants. Newton. 11 households. 65 inhabitants. Tattenhall. 125 households 568 inhabitants. Total. 149. 692.

Out of the above 149 families, and 692 men, women, and children, there were only one Quaker and two Baptists, all besides were reported members of the Church of England.

Canons of Chester who seem to have been Rectors of Tattenhall.

Randle Wymesley, Rector of Tattenhall, 16th November, 3rd of Edward vi. A.D. 1548. James Slade. Canon. Dore Bridgman. Canon. 1634 Edwd Moreton. Canon. 1637. *Saml. Peploe. LL.D Canon. 1727. Rector of Tattenhall. 1743-1781. G.B.Blomfield. Canon. ______* Also Archdeacon of Richmond 1729. 1780. Saml Peploe bought a farm in Tattenhall to educate free, 18 boys. 1781. Dr Peploe left £200 legacy for clothing poor folk who attend church. ______

1766. April 15th. Geo. Harrison Larden. born.

Tattenhall Hall.

The present hall was built about the beginning of the 17th century, by Richard Bostock, Esq. In the year 1622, it is then described as “a fair house built all of brick”. The Bostock’s sold the hall to the Bradshaw’s and in 1666 it was owned by Sir J Bradshaw of Chester. In 1810 it was a farm house united to the manor. It is now 1907, a farmhouse belonging to Geo. Barbour, Esq. of Bolesworth.

Russia Hall.

This is situated to the right hand or north side of Frog Lane, after crossing the railway bridge and going in the direction of Milton Green. It was anciently spelled Rushill, Rushee, Rushy, and Rush Hall, and is mentioned by Webb in his Itinerary in A.D. 1622, as a fair house and demesne of the Duttons of Hatton, afterwards the seat of Sir Peter Pindar, and now (1810) a farm house.

The Righi.

This stands on the west side of Rocky Lane at the top of the rise going from Tattenhall towards . It was built in 1874/5 by Mr John Mosford, who still dwells there, and is so well known in the village in connection with its interests. The hollow in the land surrounding part of the site was made by the excavating of rock from here for ballast during the construction of the Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway in 1870-1872.

Tattenhall Church.

This has already been mentioned at the beginning of this brief sketch of Tattenhall. There is not much more to add, and the whole may be summed up as follows; Date of the first building of the church unknown. It may be as far back as the date of Christianity being introduced into Mercia, namely in the reign of Wulfhere, 669A.D. as given by Pinnock. The first building was most likely on the site of the old “Thing-stede”, or “moot” ground of the early Saxons in these parts.

Mention is made of William Malbedeng, Baron of Wich- Malbank, giving the church and 10ths to the Abbey of St. Werburgh which points to a church being in existence at the time of the Norman usurpation of England. 1512. or thereabouts. The present tower of Tattenhall church was built, being about the same time as Handley Church Tower, and evidently built by the same masons, as the same mason’s marks appear on both towers. On the west side of Tattenhall’s tower, above the entrance, are four quaint stone shields, the two shields to one’s left when facing the tower here, have on them the letters R and H (one letter in each shield). The shields on one’s right when in the same position bear the letters T.R.O. and M.R.D. respectively. The R.H. on the first two mentioned shields are by some thought to stand for Rex Henricus, and to refer to King Henry vii, or an earlier Henry. It seems however, more probable that that the letters stand for Roger Hilary, Knight. whose wife Margaret was of the family of Touchets, or de Audeley, and both of these seem to have been benefactors of the church. The old shields were most likely of an earlier time than the present tower, and rebuilt in it, to perpetuate the name Roger Hilary. The T.R.O. on the first shield to the right of the west entrance, may, (and most likely does), refer distinctly to a member of the Touchet family, while the M.R.D. on the second shield on the right has puzzled many. In one edition of Ormerod it is said he gives the letters as M.R.A., signifying Maria Regina Anglia; but as Mr Gaythorpe pointed out in his most excellent paper on Tattenhall and neighbourhood, that rendering would be quite misleading. The question may be asked, does the character stand for D at all. As it stands on the stone it is

not at all unlike one of the forms of H as used by the early English scribes, or of a species of an old sign sometimes used to signify our present sound of “th” as in “thine”. If we read the character to mean H then Margaret and Roger Hilary both may be meant again. All the four shields appear older than the rest of the tower, and very probably refer to some patrons, or benefactors, to an earlier building which existed. These shields have always been a puzzle to antiquaries. The present body of the church was rebuilt at its restoration in 1870. At that time the old gallery and oak pews were all removed, and many an old flagstone in the floor besides. On the outside of the church, near the north wall, the bones of a very big man were found, and removed during the time of the restoring. He appears to have been buried in a winding sheet or cloth only, and no coffin, and under his head was a coin or token supposed to have been for the purpose of paying his toll over “the Death River”. He had died at a good age, as the teeth in his skull, though all there, were said to be worn down quite flat, almost even with his jaw bone. The fact of the coin or token being under the skull, may point to a time of pre-Christian burial. On the inside of the church was found, beneath one of the pew seats, a coffin containing a body or bones. It had simply been placed on the floor of the church under the seat in the pew, and there boarded in. Our ancestors’ ideas of sanitary requirements evidently differed greatly from ours of present day. All bodies or bones disturbed or removed during the restoration of the church, were of course, reverently buried again.

The tower of the church contains a peal of six bells. Five of these refer to past times. The sixth has lately been added, viz. 1902. Of the five bells, three were cast in 1596, and two in 1710. The three older ones bear the following inscriptions; “IHESVS BE OVER SPEDE”1596. “GOD SAVE OVR QVENE”1596.

“GOD SAVE HIS CHVRCH2 1596. The other two, (of the original peal), are as follows; “Peace and prosperity to all our benefactors 1710”. “God save the Queen, Peace and good neighbourhood. 1710”

The two later bells were put up at the time when Samuel Davie was Rector, and Thomas Larden and John Hodkiss were church-wardens. These two bells also have the fouder’s initials thereon, namely “G.S”, which refers to Gabriel Smith, of . For the above description of bells I am indebted to Mr Gaythorpe’s paper on Tattenhall, before referred to, which appeared in the Chester Courant in May and June 1889. The church contains a very fine “reredos”, given by a late Rector, the Rev. Canon Holme, a man who was esteemed and loved by his parishioners. Also there are three or four memorial windows. One of these reminds us R Bulkeley Orton, (the father of the late Robert O Orton), of Bank House, Tattenhall, and of his sister, Kezia Larden. Another one is in remembrance of Janet Andrew Barbour, widow of the late Robert Barbour, of Bolesworth Castle. Another window bears the Arms of the Touchet family. Before finishing the notes of the church, it should be mentioned that the remains of an earlier church was found

at the time of the restoration, which left no doubt of it having been destroyed by fire. About the year 1840 various robberies of farm houses were being carried on, and although much cheese was stolen, no trace of it was found, until one of the robber gang named William Wright gave himself up to justice, and shewed the cheeses hidden in one of the flat topped tombs to the north of the church. Nonconformist churches. Tattenhall has two of these. One a very fine building adjoining the premises of Mr T Lightfoot, saddler. This was built about the year 1872. The “Manse”, the house of the clergyman of this church, is near to it, on the same side of the road as the church. It was first called the Manse by the Rev. Mr Todd, who, being a Scotchman, gave his dwelling the characteristic Scotch name. Another Church, older in years and more venerable, though not so artistic in architecture, stands in the Bolesworth Road. Another one still, though some distance out of Tattenhall, in the lane leading from the Burwardsley Road to Beeston, has of late years been built on the site of a former one, and built in a most pleasing and picturesque style, and yet free from any point or mark that might detract from its sacred calling. The two latter churches described under this heading belong to the Primitive Methodist Church, and the first one to the Congregational or Presbyterian form of worship. National Schools. The present schoolrooms were built by voluntary subscription in 1817. One of these is appropriated to the boys, and one to the girls. The average number of boys attending the school is under 60, and of the girls, about 30 to 40. A similar number of boys was

formerly educated in the school and it was then customary to furnish these with clothing. It was considered, however, that it would be more beneficial to increase the number of scholars, and accordingly the clothing has been discontinued. The land at present is in the occupation of Joseph Smith, as tenant from year to year, at an annual rent of £16. which is its full value. The land is arable, and consists of about eight acres, with the cottages on it. It is not considered to be worth more than 25/- per acre. There is no school house, and the entire product of the estate is paid over to the Treasurer of the school. In addition to this there is a payment of £2-5-0 from the church rates, being the interest of £45. borrowed from the Benefaction, to the Parish, as appears by the above account, and a small sum arising from a payment of a penny per week by each of the children. From these funds the schoolmaster is paid £30 per year, and the schoolmistress £22-12-0. The expenses incurred beyond the amount of income from these above sources, are defrayed by private subscription, and the school is conducted on the National System. The Rector and the churchwardens are the Trustees of the school Property. The Institute. This is a very fine building, between that portion of the High Street known as the “New Road”, and the Mill Pool, and was built in the year 1897, by Mr George Barbour, of Bolesworth Castle. It is a good, substantial building much of it in that quaint black and white style, characteristic of, and peculiar to, the County of Cheshire. On the outside, facing the road, is a fine carving, in stone, of the armorial bearings of the family of

Barbour. Arms: Argenta St. Andrews cross between a garb in chief, two escallops in the flaunches, and another in base azure. Motto: “Nihil nisa cruce” (“with nothing but the cross”). General notes. Field names should never be overlooked, and about Tattenhall there are a few that tend to call our thoughts to the past, and to the origins of their names. First we may consider the “Flacca Field”. This, as every one near knows, is a field of great extent. The origin of its name comes from Flax, if we believe the local tradition, as this was formerly grown largely in and about this field. Local tradition should never be disregarded in these matters, as, though sometimes it may seem far-fetched and exaggerated, it generally overlies, and is often rooted to a firm old-world truth. Some would derive the name of the field “Flacca” from a possible former Saxon owner of it, (it may be at a time of Domesday Book). Others think it from “flaggs” or “osiers”, but no one has so far settled an actual proof of its derivation. The Pool Head Field, on the Chester Road, takes its name from a pool which once existed here. There was such a pool long ago, when the water was possibly dammed back for the working of a very ancient water mill, that stood in what is now called “The Owler”, or “Oeler Meadow”. Some ten years ago, an old inhabitant and native of the village, could tell of his forebears who remembered its ruins. This ancient mill was, undoubtedly, the “molinum hiemale”, or winter mill of the Domesday Survey, made by order of William the Norman. While speaking of the Pool Head Field, we must not forget the gate leading into it from the Chester Road. This spot, it used to be said, was haunted, and that night

travellers had seen standing or sitting there, a headless woman. If we could accurately follow the tradition back through long years we should, , no doubt, find a cause for the founding of the legend. Perhaps, at sometime, a woman may have been killed on the spot, the particulars of which have not come down to us, but the old superstition arising from such a cause has. Many of the older inhabitants of the neighbourhood still remember the old “Distich” connected with the place mentioned, and which runs in the dialect, thus; “Coom thou yarly, coom thou leet, Be weer o’ the Buggin at the pooYed Geet”. Going towards Chester from the “Geet”, just spoken of, we find the next field to the PooYed field called, the “Bank”, or “Banky” field. Why so called, unless for a rise of the ground from where the brook crosses under the road, at about this spot, I do not know, but the name of it is very ancient. Another weird spot I have heard said was about the site of the present Brook Hall. In old days there was a pit or pool there, where belated travellers used to see “freetnin” (frightening), worse than the “Buggin o’ th’ PooYed Geet”, if the tales were to be believed. The pit was filled up many years before the building of the hall. The Old Stocks. The old village stocks stood about opposite to the present post office, near the entrance gates to Tattenhall Hall. In later years a saw pit was in about the same place. The piece of the road, still sometimes called “The New Road”, running from the entrance to the Hall, to about where Mr Lightfoot’s shop now stands, is of comparatively recent date, the older road used to run

nearer to the mill pool, and come out again up what is now the front of the Factory. An old water mill used to be near the Hall, but has been removed for many years past. The Factory now does the work, and much more and other than did the old mill. Amusements of the Folk of the old time. An old writer, (Maren) gives us some idea of the amusements about these parts at the beginning of the 19th century. They run as follows; “Bull-baiting and bear- baiting, badger-drawing, fighting, parish champions, parish against parish, (Nat Shewell mentioned as a famous champion), bonfires on November 5th, bell- ringing, Morris Dancing at Christmas, “Lifting” at Easter, “Souling” in November, etc. Speaking of the bonfires above, many years ago bonfires were largely indulged in on the Church Bank. One year, an old man who dwelt at the bottom of the village, and who used to act as a sort of Master of Ceremonies at the fires was extra loud in his calls to the lads about him to bring more material for the blaze. “Bring more stuff my lads, never mind what it is, so that it’ll burn”, he called, and the lads brought him a sundry and manifold collection, all of which he hurled on the fire with great gusto. Imagine the man’s surprise when going to his house, (he was a bachelor or widower), to find that his pigsty, and other doors had been delivered to him by the “lads”, together with some of his own furniture, all of which, in his zeal for the Protestants rejoicing on the 5th, he had thrown on the fire and seen consumed, not recognizing it as his own. Superstitions. Like all other old world villages and places, this village at one time strongly believed in witchcraft, and up to a very

near date, one, William Dean, was credited with being able to perform wonders. One act of the wizard’s is still told. A woman had all the clothes she had washed, and put on a hedge to dry, stolen, and in grief and distress consulted at once “old Billy Dean”. I’ll mak the thief put ‘em back” he said, in answer to the poor woman’s distress: “I’ll mak him put ‘em back”. “he shall either put ‘em back or go to jail”, and the woman left the wizards house somewhat comforted, and told what had passed there. Now whether this tale got about quickly and so to the thief’s ears we don’t know, but it most probably did, and the fear of the wizard worked upon him, (or her), to such a degree, that, strange as it may seem, the stolen clothes were returned to the hedge from which they had been taken, on the following night, or very early in the morning following that. The old “wizard” lived in a cottage still standing in Frog Lane, on the left side of the lane as one goes to the station. Formerly the building was two cottages, but for a long time past, only one, and the time is not very distant, when, after Dean’s death, children still looked with awe and fright on the building as they passed it. Concluding remarks. Many more old traditions and tales of the past might be added, and remarks upon the picturesque view of the village in general, and of the Church Bank in particular, when there stood there the village smithy, presided over by one William Wright, a very noted character and straightforward dealing man in his day, and of whom linger yet many stories and sayings. The old smithy stood somewhat to the back of what is now a stationer’s and hairdressing shop and house, in the occupation of Mr Oliver Greening, lately deceased. The

Church Bank, in the days referred to, with its old thatched roofed cottages, pictures of parts of which still remain, and its old public-house, “The Crow”, standing opposite the entrance to the Rectory, (from the Church Bank), must then have been picturesque and quaint in the extreme. Of the quoit playing and other old country amusements that took place on the premises of this old-world Inn (no vestige of which now remains), old inhabitants can still tell of, among these being Mr Charles Powell, who for a great number of years past, has been Sexton of the church, and whose father held the same office for a very long period before him. Before finishing this sketch of the village history and life, it will perhaps be not out of place to tell yet another little occurrence that happened at the time of the fall of Sebastopol. When this fact became known in the village, Mr R. B. Orton, (Robert Bulkeley Orton!), gentlemen of the neighbourhood, resolved to celebrate the joyful news in a manner becoming such an occasion, and pleasing to the inhabitants. The bell-ringers were quickly got together, and joyous peals rang out and reverberated from the grand old 16th century tower of the church, telling the countryside and the world in general, in their deep-tongued and wild mad joy, as they must have told often before, of the courage, strength, and victory of England’s sons over a foreign foe, and that the old flag of freedom, the joint possession of John, Pat, and Sandy, and the tri-colour of France, our ally, were waving where the despotic flag of the Tzar of all the Russia’s had lately waved in defiance of them. Cheer after cheer rent the air as the facts were made known to the assembled folk, and further celebrations and

refreshments in good old English style were provided, and set forth in the Flacca Field, to the enjoyment and share of which all were free and welcome to partake of. At a lull in the proceedings, which were naturally as the occasion deserved somewhat boisterous, Mr Orton asked if any man could make a verse or a song suitable to the occasion, offering, it is said, some slight token of reward as further encouragement. One of his hearers, a Mr Thomas Kinsey, after very little thought, called out: “I’ve made one, Mester”. “Then sing it”, said Mr Orton, and in response, the impromptu Skald sang, in good voice and tune, “All around Sebastopol, And all around the ocean, And everytime a gun goes off, Down falls a Russian”. At this there was great cheering, and the Skald was thanked and complimented on his quick and efficient verse making.

Here we fear we must now draw our tale for the present to a close, but we hope some day to yet further enlarge upon this brief sketch of Tattenhall, and tell a more full and detailed story of this pleasant and well conducted village, the like of which it is very hard to equal, and we doubt much if it can in any way be beaten.

YE ENDE FOR YE TYME BEYNGE.

Tattenhall. Appendix.

Being a List of some historic events which must have affected Tattenhall in many instances, and all of which are connected with Cheshire. 584. Defeat of the Britons by Caewlin, (probably helped by Creada), at Faddiley, near Nantwich. 607. Aethelfrith, King of Northumbria, took Chester, destroyed 1,200 monks at Bangor Iscoed, and annexed the country about Chester, east of the Dee. 828. Ecgberht, first English King of all England, took Chester, destroyed the Statue of Cadwallon there, and ordered all Welshmen out of his Kingdom. 892 or 893. Danes from Nothumberland, under Hasting, took Chester. King Alfred’s forces arriving too late to prevent the Danes from seizing the City, Alfred’s men destroyed all crops, and drove all the cattle from far around the City, thus forcing the Danes to feed on their own horses, and finally to quit the City and fly into North Wales. 905 to 908. Earl Aethelred and his wife, Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, rebuilt the City of Chester, which had been destroyed by the Danes. 914 to 916. Aethelflaed built Runcorn and Eddisbury Castles. 920 to 923. Eadward, the Elder built the City of Thelwall and garrisoned it.

971. Eadgar was rowed upon the river Dee bt eight tributary Princes. These were Kenneth of Scotland, Malcolm of Cumbria, Maccus of Man and Hebrides, Dynwall, (or Dunwallon), of Strath Clyde, Siferth, jago, and Howell of Wales, and Juchill of Westmoreland. 981. Chester laid waste by the Vikings. 1066.` Defeat of the English at Hastings by William the Norman, and Norman Usurpation of the country. 1093. First great inroad of Welshmen afer the Norman Usurpation, under Grithith ap Conan, and great slaughter committed in Cheshire by them. 1121. A Battle at Nantwich, against the Welsh. 1121. Two castles, (supposed), and Malpas, destroyed by the Welsh. 1150. The Welsh laid waste Cheshire, but were cut off on their return at Nantwich. 1156. (about). James, Lord Audley, ravaged Wales with fire and sword, and the Welsh retaliated. 1156. Henry ii. came to Chester, and encamped on Saltney Marsh. 1157. Henry marched into Wales, and the Welsh sue for peace. 1164. Henry ii. again comes to Chester by sea. 1212. The Welsh invaded the borders, took some castles, killed the garrisons, burnt several towns, and went back laden with plunder. 1213. King John marched to Chester to chastise the Welsh. 1245. Henry iii. had the borders of Wales impoverished. 1256. Rebellion of the Welsh, and ravaging of part of Cheshire to the gates of Chester. 1257. Welsh wasted Cheshire with fire and sword.

1257. Henry iii. destroyed the corn etc, on the Welsh borders, so that his own men, having nothing to eat, had to retreat. 1264. Capture of Chester by Earl Derby after defeating William, Lord Zouch, David, (brother of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales), and James, Lord Audley, who opposed him on the King’s part. 1274. Edward i. summoned Llewellyn, Prince of Wales,to Chester, but Llewellyn refused to come. 1277. Edward marched in triumph into Wales, and Llewellyn made submission. 1281. Llewellyn killed in fight against Lord Mortimer, and Welsh depredations ceased. 1294. Edward i. at Chester with his Army before taking Anglesey. 1353. The Black Prince, with Earls Stafford and Warwick, were at Chester to prevent insurrection, which was apprehended. 1356. Battle of Poitiers. Lord Audley and four Cheshire Equires were heroes there. 1399. Henry of Lancaster, when first in arms against Richard ii. came from Shrewsbury to Chester, where he stayed for days, and executed Sir Peers Legh, and put his head on one of the towers of the City. 1403. Many Cheshire men joined Lord Percy in his rebellion against Henry iv. and very many of them fell on the fatal field of Shrewsbury. 1404. King Henry pardoned the Citizens of Chester for taking part in Percy’s (Hotspur’s) rebellion on the payment of 300 marks. 1459. Battle of Blore Heath. James, Lord Audley, was defeated by Lord Salsbury, and this was disastrous to Cheshire men. This was a fight between Yorkists and

Lancastrians, wherein the latter wore a white swan as a distinguishing mark. 1467. Robert Nixon, the Cheshire Prophet, born at Over, near . He is said to have foretold Bosworth Field victory, the Reformation, the great Civil War, and his own death at Court of King Henry vii. 1513. The Scotch heavily defeated at Flooen Field. Many Cheshire men fell in this fight, and the Cheshire bowmen contributed largely towards the victory. 1544. Earl of Hereford defeated the Scots, and Knighted at Leith 60 officers of his army. One third of these Knights were Cheshire men, among them being Sir Edward Savage, whose father fell at Flodden. 1643. Parliamentary forces attack Chester. (July). 1643. Parliamentary Forces defeated at Tilstone Heaht, near Beeston Castle. 1643. (21st Feb.). Beeston Castle taken by Parliamentarians. 1643. (13th March). Defeat of the Royalists at , by Sir William Brereton. 1643. (12th June). Carden Hall attacked by Parliamentarians, and Mr Leche taken prisoner to Nantwich. 1643. (end of June). The troops of King Charles i. from Cholmondeley Hall burned Bunbury Church. 1643. (18th July). Sir William Brereton attacked Chester and was repulsed. 1643. 12th November). Skirmish between Parliamentarians from and Royalists from Chester at Stamford Bridge, where the Royalists were beaten. 1643. Troops from Ireland entered Chester in the King’s cause.

1643. Beeston castle, Dodington Castle, , and Acton Churches were taken by the Royalists. The Govenor of Beeston Castle was executed for cowardice. 1643. (28th December). Crewe Hall retaken by Parliamentarians. 1643. The Royalists, under Lord Byron, defeated Sir William Brereton at Middlewich. 1644. Nantwich relieved by Sir and Sir William Brereton, and the Royalist forces defeated by these commanders. Lord Byron on 25th January retreated to Chester. 1644. Acton Church and Dorfold Hall retaken by Parliamentarians, who were also successful against the King’s troops in a skirmish near Tarvin, towards the end of January, in this year. 1644. Sir William Brereton was made Major General of Cheshire. 1644 (25th August). A severe action was fought at Oldcastle Heath, near Malpas. 1644. Prince Rupert’s Horse defeated by Colonel Jones, near Malpas, and they retreated to Chester. 1644. In October of this year, Chester was blockaded by Sir William Brereton. 1644. (27th September). The King’s Army defeated and driven from Rowton Moor. 1644. In November of this year Beeston Castle surrendered to the Parliamentarians. END OF APPENDIX.

Footnotes.

These are notes that I add to enlarge on some of the details that are recorded here.

These above writings are recorded from the book produced some one hundred years ago as recorded above. I borrowed a copy, which is in very poor condition, from John Stoneley of Gatesheath, and felt that it ought to be copied for posterity due to its condition, and this is it.

At the time of the Tithe Maps for Tattenhall, (dated 31st January 1838), and the records entered into the Apportionment's of those maps, the occupier of Bank House, (which house subsequently became The Rookery), and the owner of some five hundred acres of land and property in the village, was Mr Robert Bulkeley Orton. There is a question in one of the Legal documents held by Ray Spencer, which asks “Did Robert Bulkeley Orton have any children?, and it records the answer to that question as “No”. This Robert Bulkeley Orton died 1st January 1866.

He was succeeded by Robert Oliver Orton, who assumed the surname of ORTON, by advertisment in “The Times”, and in the Chester Papers about 13th January 1866. From this we must assume that he was not the son of R.B. Orton, but some other relationship about which I know nothing at the moment. I have since checked out the previous name of this gentleman. It would appear from one of the legal documents held by Mr Ray Spencer that his former name was “Robert Oliver”.

This Robert Oliver Orton married a Dorothy Mary*** and they had a number of children.

There would appear to be some reasonable connection of the Orton family to that of the Bulkeley family. (Note his second forename for example). There might also have been a connection with the Brassey family, (who were themselves linked with the Bulkeley family). One of the executors of R.B.Orton’s Will was a Richard Brassey, of Edgerton Hall. (This Richard Brassey died on 3rd March 1906.

I had wrongly thought that the D. M. Orton, author of the above memoire was the son of the above mentioned Robert Oliver Orton. It now seems clear to me that this person was in fact his daughter, Dorothy Mary Orton.

The legal records that I gleaned for information refer to there being a number of children of this marriage, thus;

*Alice Mary Orton. Spinster. (It would appear that this daughter subsequently married an Edward Joseph Vaughan. *Dorothy Mary Orton. Spinster. (She is still referred to as “spinster” in deeds dated 5th December 1919). *Rose Constance Campston. Another daughter. Married. *Olive Elizabeth Orton. This would seem to imply that there were no sons and the name therefore died out locally at this stage.

It was shortly after the death of the Robert Oliver Orton that Bank House was sold by the Orton family to the Wignall family, the wife being a Tate of the sugar family. Bank House was replaced with the building that is now known of as The Rookery. Much of the former land holdings subsequently became owned by the Barbour family of Bolesworth. Greaves Farm which was owned as part of the Orton estate is now owned by Derek Jones.

While recently walking around our Town Hall in Chester I noticed an interesting occurrence. In 1974, the former Council of the City of Chester, Chester Rural Council and Tarvin Rural Councils were merged to form the Chester City Council. There is a room in the Town Hall where the records of former Mayors, Sheriffs, clerks and so on of the former City area are recorded. Also within the Town Hall the similar notice boards of the former Rural areas are displayed. These two authorities only came into existence in the 1890s, and the first recorded chairman of the Tarvin R.D.C. from its formation in 1894 until 1906, was R. O. Orton. There can be no doubt whatsoever that this R. O. Orton is the same as the subject of the above article. I have now checked out the date of the death of this Robert Oliver Orton. He is buried adjacent to the gate that goes onto the pathway between the old and new churchyard of Tattenhall church. He died 3rd September 1906, aged 66.

Records of 1906 show this probate entry of his estate.

“Robert Oliver Orton, of Bank House, Tattenhall, Cheshire, esquire, died 3rd September 1906. Administration, (with will), 20th December granted to Alice Mary Orton and Dorothy Mary Orton. (spinsters). Effects £43,709.1.0.”

Doug Haynes 30th August 2005.