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SPEKE HALL by Herbert Winstanley

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SPEKE HALL by Herbert Winstanley SPEK.E : INNER BAY OF GREAT HALL. TRANSACTIONS SPEKE HALL By Herbert Winstanley Read I4th March 1918 PEKE HALL 'is justly famous as one of the S best examples of black and white mansions now left to us. It was built by various members of the Norris family and it was their home for several centuries. The Norrises of Speke were a younger branch of the family of one Hugh le Noreis, to whom King John before his accession to the throne gave the manor of Blackrod. They had land in Formby and Speke, and eventually acquired the manor of Speke by the marriage of Sir Henry Norris with Alice, heir of the family of Erneys of Chester, about 1390. From this alliance the descent of the family is established without difficulty. The next three generations at Speke were William Norris, who married the daughter of Sir James Harrington ; his son Thomas, who married Lettice Norris of West Derby ; and Thomas's son, Sir William Norris, who married Katherine, daughter of Sir Henry Bold of Bold. Sir William was succeeded by Henry Norris, who married Clemence, fifth daughter and co-heir of Sir James Harrington of Wolfage, and with his wife he obtained the Blackrod estate formerly held by Hugh le Noreis, the founder of the family. This Henry fought at Flodden in 1513, as mentioned below, and was buried at Childwall. This brings us down to the beginning ,of the ' B 2 Speke Hall sixteenth century, the century during which Speke Hall, as we know it to-day, appears to have been built. Henry was succeeded by his son William, then aged 23, who first married Ellen, daughter of Rowland Bulkeley of Watcroft, Cheshire, and after her decease married Anne, eldest daughter and co-heir of David Myddleton of Chester. He died in 1563 and was also buried at Childwall. He was succeeded by his third son Edward, who married Margaret, daughter of Roger Smallwood of West­ minster, and lived until 1606. Having traced the family history thus far we will examine the Hall as it stands to-day. The plan is roughly rectangular, measuring about 130 by 140 ft. with a courtyard in the centre, some 75 by 50 ft. It is surrounded by a wide moat, now drained, which is complete on the north and west, well marked on the east, but filled in on the south. It is crossed on the north side, in front of the principal entrance, by a stone arched bridge with two cutwater buttresses on either side. The building itself is timber construction on sandstone ashlar foundations. The only dates on the fabric are three, viz. 1598 over the principal entrance, 1605 over the south garden gate, and 1613 over the door of the drawing-room porch. A careful examination shows the building to be of different periods. The oldest portion probably is in the east wing containing the domestic offices, and it is possible that the kitchen window with its round- headed lights formed part of an earlier structure. The writer of the article on Speke Hall, which appeared in Country Life in 1903, states that this wall, and also a small fountain head in the courtyard, belonged to the original Hall begun 150 years before the present Hall was started in 1490, thus fixing the date about 1340; but he gives no authority. The next portion in date is probably the eastern z o ctf a T1 HH W OH C/3 H z O 50 X ffi o *> o '-d Speke Hall 3 portion of the north front. This front, eliminating the small modern addition on the extreme east, is roughly 95 ft. long. The gable end on the west side, measuring some 20 ft., projects slightly, and is similar in design to a corresponding gable on the south side of the Hall, but is different from the rest of this north front, especially in the treatment of the window sills, and appears to be rather later in date. The principal entrance to the Hall is almost in the centre of the older part of the front, and consists of a stone porch with a four-centred late Gothic arch, over which is a bedroom with a six-light window and a gable containing a small window, the whole projecting slightly from the main line of the building. The inscription already referred to is over the arch and reads as follows: "This worke 25 yds. long was wholly built by Edw: N: Esq: ano 1598." 4 Speke Hall There is some difficulty in deciding what is meant by " this worke." Some authorities have thought it is meant to refer to the whole of the older portion of the front ; but I think the character of the front indicates an earlier date, for there is more Gothic feeling shown in this portion of the building than in the work on the other side of the court­ yard, which can be ascribed without much doubt to William Norris, father of the Edward Norris of this inscription, and which is probably in date some fifty years earlier than 1598. The more likely as­ sumption is that the inscription refers to the stone bridge over the moat, which is about the length in­ dicated and which would more fittingly be described as " this worke " than would the main building. The character of the bridge would fit the period better ; and the Renaissance cresting of the two walls con­ necting the bridge with the porch is similar in character to that of the small gate on the south side of the hall, which is inscribed with the initials of Edward Norris and his wife, and the date 1605. The bridge had become so far decayed about ten years ago that it was found necessary to rebuild it, but the rebuilding was done with such care that it is difficult to-day to detect it. To the left of the porch is the only arched window in the building. It lights the room now used as the servants' hall and which is supposed to have been the chapel. I have not been able to find any direct reference to the chapel at Speke Hall, beyond a licence for an oratory there in 1367, though there are two items in the Childwall church­ wardens' accounts which may possibly have some bearing on the point. They are under date 1626 and read as follows : ; ' Spent in going to Speake to see the Com- munian cupp weighed .... z o rt to SB h Speke Hall ' 5 Pd. to Edmond Holme which was payd] for the sayd cupp . III. XIII. VI. Spent in going to his house twyce about the sayd cupp 1 .... Before leaving this front it is interesting to observe that there is a fireplace, now made up, in the roof above the porch, and it would appear that at one time there was a room there. The barge-boards are modern. There is nothing, so far as I have been able to see, to suggest that the south and west sides do not represent one continuous building. The irregular arrangement of the gables on the south side still suggests the Gothic spirit rather than the classic, and in spite of the absence of barge-boards is more picturesque than the north. Another point which cannot escape notice is the extensive use of the quatrefoil ornament, which is entirely lacking on the north. I have already alluded to the similarity of the west gables on the north and south sides of the Hall. The ground-floor windows are each of eight lights and are the only eight-light windows in the building ; the sills are raised above the sand­ stone foundations, unlike the other windows. The windows of the first floor are each of six lights, and the sills are ornamented with a rope moulding which is peculiar to these two bays. The points of similarity are so strong that I do not think it un­ reasonable to conclude that they are both of one period. Some of the hip-knobs on this south side have been preserved and have rather jolly little grotesques. There are two details on this side to which I have already alluded and which are somewhat later in date than the main building. The first is the garden gate, which bears the 1 Notes on Child-wall, R. Stewart-Brown. 6 Speke Hall initials E. N. and M. N. and the date 1605. They are the initials of Edward Norris and his wife Margaret. The other detail is the small stone porch built out from the drawing-room. This is slightly later in date and bears the initials W. N., E. M., 1613 ; being those of Sir William Norris, son and heir of the Edward Norris just mentioned, and of Eleanor his wife, who was the daughter :( of Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton. \ The west side of the Hall is now different from the rest, the plaster work having been replaced with brick or covered with boarding. The main features are the two large stone chimneys, the bay window of the drawing-room, and the projection containing the staircase. It will be observed there is a break in the roof ridge, the wall of the drawing-room being set back a little. The next thing to be considered is the courtyard, one of the best features of Speke. It is divided into two by the path joining the north and south entrances. On either side of this path there is a magnificent yew tree, and these trees add consider­ ably to the picturesqueness of the court.
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