Bewsey Old Hall, Warrington, Cheshire: excavations 1977-81 and 1983-5

Bewsey Old Hall has a long and archaeologically well-documented existence. It is a Scheduled Monument , but was effectively derelict in the late 1970s, when plans for sympathetic restoration and redevelopment of this important moated site gave the opportunity for the standing buildings (some dating back to the seventeenth century) to be recorded. The extensive archaeological excavations examined a large part of the moated platform, and were intended to place the house within its physical and chronological context. In addition, this was supplemented by detailed documentary research, which offered an unusual chance to place the site within its regional socio-political context. Excavations took place in 1977-81 and again in 1983-5. Analysis of the large body of data recovered, begun in 1985 but laid aside in 1987, was resumed in 1993 and finally completed in 1996, at which point a draft report was submitted to English Heritage. A revised version of that draft forms the basis of this publication.Bewsey’s origins lay in the thirteenth century, perhaps originating as a hunting lodge in the royal forest of Burtonwood. It became the principal seat of the Butlers, Barons of Warrington, after their original hall, Mote Hill in Warrington, was destroyed by fire in the late thirteenth century. The earliest coherent archaeological evidence from the site suggests that a large timber-built aisled hall and a range of smaller service buildings were erected on the site at about that time, presumably to house the baron and his household. The Butlers were to stay at Bewsey until the sixteenth century, rebuilding their hall on stone foundations in the fourteenth century, after a substantial fire, and modifying it and maintaining it as circumstances required. By the mid-sixteenth century, some of the principal buildings had fallen into disrepair, but a new northern range was built shortly before 1586, when Bewsey changed hands, passing briefly to the Earl of Leicester. When Robert Dudley died in 1588, the house, although probably intended for his illegitimate son, Robert, passed first to his brother Ambrose, earl of Warwick, who died shortly afterwards. For a decade, the ownership of the property was disputed, but in 1597, Robert Dudley sold the estate to the Ireland family, and it remained with them and their successors, the Athertons, until the mid-twentieth century.Bewsey Old Hall has a long and archaeologically well-documented existence. It is a Scheduled Monument , but was effectively derelict in the late 1970s, when plans for sympathetic restoration and redevelopment of this important moated site gave the opportunity for the standing buildings (some dating back to the seventeenth century) to be recorded. The extensive archaeological excavations examined a large part of the moated platform, and were intended to place the house within its physical and chronological context. In addition, this was supplemented by detailed documentary research, which offered an unusual chance to place the site within its regional socio-political context. Excavations took place in 1977-81 and again in 1983-5. Analysis of the large body of data recovered, begun in 1985 but laid aside in 1987, was resumed in 1993 and finally completed in 1996, at which point a draft report was submitted to English Heritage. A revised version of that draft forms the basis of this publication. Bewsey’s origins lay in the thirteenth century, perhaps originating as a hunting lodge in the royal forest of Burtonwood. It became the principal seat of the Butlers, Barons of Warrington, after their original hall, Mote Hill in Warrington, was destroyed by fire in the late thirteenth century. The earliest coherent archaeological evidence from the site suggests that a large timber-built aisled hall and a range of smaller service buildings were erected on the site at about that time, presumably to house the baron and his household. The Butlers were to stay at Bewsey until the sixteenth century, rebuilding their hall on stone foundations in the fourteenth century, after a substantial fire, and modifying it and maintaining it as circumstances required. By the mid-sixteenth century, some of the principal buildings had fallen into disrepair, but a new northern range was built shortly before 1586, when Bewsey changed hands, passing briefly to the Earl of Leicester. When Robert Dudley died in 1588, the house, although probably intended for his illegitimate son, Robert, passed first to his brother Ambrose, earl of Warwick, who died shortly afterwards. For a decade, the ownership of the property was disputed, but in 1597, Robert Dudley sold the estate to the Ireland family, and it remained with them and their successors, the Athertons, until the mid-twentieth century. The origins of the fine brick hall still standing on the site probably lay in the early seventeenth century, representing the fashionable aspirations of the new owners, seeking to add comfortable modern accommodation to the extant medieval hall, thereby initiating the piecemeal demolition of the medieval southern range. The appearance of the new house was later much enhanced, by the excavation of a formal terraced garden, decorated by large and impressive terracotta urns and other garden furniture. It did not, however, last long, and the garden had been backfilled and levelled by 1724. The Atherton family often had cause to lease Bewsey to tenants, and on occasion it was left empty for long periods. Indeed, it was not until c 1765 that Elizabeth Atherton and her husband Robert Gwillym moved back to Bewsey, which had almost certainly been empty since 1754. As a fire is thought to have destroyed part of the main range in the 1740s or early 1750s, it is hardly surprising that they initiated a substantial programme of rebuilding, including the demolition of the medieval hall, and the addition of rooms in the Georgian style. A brick-built farmhouse may have been added to the western side of the seventeenth-century hall during this period, but it could equally have been built much later, possibly around 1819. By 1833, the Georgian buildings had been demolished, leaving the hall more or less in the form in which it survives today. In 1863, a ‘New’ Hall was built some 400 m away, and Bewsey Old Hall was left in the hands of a succession of tenants, until, in a state of considerable disrepair, it was acquired by Warrington Development Corporation in 1974. The large amount of medieval and earlier post-medieval material from the site, particularly the pottery, is of particular significance to local and regional studies. It remains one of the largest collections in the North West outside of urban centres such as Chester and Carlisle.

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