| Summary : Timber-framed house constructed circa 1380, enlarged circa 1670, altered during the 18th-19th century, now derelict. It is situated on former peninsula which has been cut by artificial channel forming an island. A chapel constructed in 1675 next to the house was resited to Tabley House in 1927. An archaeological/architectural investigation in 2016-2017 by Historic England examined the surviving fabric of Tabley Old Hall and the visible archaeology of the moated site, and collated an historical overview of the development of the Hall to inform the future management of the site. The surviving structures are in a poor, declining condition, and there is a risk, both immediate and severe, of further deterioration or loss of fabric. This study is published as volume 47-2017 in the Historic England Research Report series. The work was accompanied by a detailed photographic record held in the HE Archive. The visible remains of the Old Hall, dating mainly from the encasing of the house in brick c.1670 now comprise mainly the unstable and partially fallen front elevation and accompanying side and rear walls, also partially fallen. Stubs of interior partitions also survive. The whole is now roofless and encompasses sizeable mounds of fallen brick rubble and structural timbers including some now known from tree-ring dating commissioned as part of this research, to be remains of the original Old Hall trusses dating from the late 14th century. |
More information : [SJ 7198 7738] TABLEY HALL [G.T.] (1)
Tabley Hall was built c. 1380, on an island, and succeeded an earlier manor hall situated nearby, adjoining the Saffronyards. A battlemented front was added in Charles II's time and other additions from the 16th-19th century. The building still remains though derelict.
A domestic chapel dated 1675 adjoined the hall but in 1927 this was taken down and re-erected on a new site near to Tabley House.
[See AO/62/169/7 and AO/63/379/7] (2-4)
The site of the chapel is covered by impenetrable vegetation but according to Mr. Beck, fragments of foundations remain.
Only the outer walls of Tabley Hall remain and these are architecturally uninteresting. The island was apparently formerly a peninsula since the channel on the N.W. side seems to be artificial.
Published survey (25") revised. (5)
Tabley Old Hall and gatehouse. Grade 1, because of its architectural importance although falling into ruin through subsidence. (6)
SJ 719774 Tabley Old Hall, listed as a moated site. (7)
Tabley Old Hall. Grade II*. House, now derelict. What still survives is the shell, c1670, of a house which contained a fine timber-framed hall of c1380. The hall, remains of which now lie on the ground, is illustrated in Country Life for 14th July 1928. See List for full description. (8)
SJ 7198 7737. Tabley Old Hall moated site and gatehouse. Scheduled RSM No 13494. (9)
Tabley Old Hall is a Grade II* listed building of 14th to 19th-century date (NHLE 1139011) located roughly 3.5km to the west-south-west of Knutsford in Cheshire. The Old Hall lies on a former peninsula of about 0.5ha protruding into Tabley Mere, separated from the mainland by an artificial channel on the north-west side. This island and adjacent 19th-century gatehouse which stands on mainland opposite the island’s northern corner are designated as a single scheduled monument (NHLE 1012354).
Some 750m to the north-east of Tabley Old Hall is Tabley House, a Grade I listed building designed by John Carr of York. Tabley Old Hall is situated within the registered park and garden of Tabley House, which covers an area of about 240 ha. Tabley Mere (also known as Tabley Pool) is the park’s main feature and the island of the Old Hall lies in the northern part which is separated from a much larger southern lake by an isthmus breached by a narrow (formerly wider) channel straddled by a large late-18th century Gothick brick boat house. This boat house is listed Grade II, as too the c 1780 Folly Tower which stands within the larger lake.
Tabley Old Hall, the scheduled moated site and gatehouse are all on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register at the time of writing (2018). The Old Hall was abandoned in the 1920s, after it became evident that the island was suffering from subsidence as a result of chemical pumping associated with salt mining within the local area. The chapel which formerly stood on the island was dismantled and reconstructed on the mainland next to Tabley House, leavign only its foundations, and certain architectural features from the Old Hall were also removed to the House for display. The visible remains of the Old Hall, dating mainly from the encasign of the house in brick c.1670 now comprise mainly the unstable and partially fallen front elevation and accompanying side and rear walls, also partially fallen. Stubs of interior partitions also survive. The whole is now roofless and encompasses sizeable mounds of fallen brick rubble and structural timbers including some now known from tree-ring dating commissioned as part of this research, to be remains of the original Old Hall trusses dating from the late 14th century (10). The island, now considerably smaller then when it was inhabited, has been colonised by unchecked laurel thickets and areas of near-impenetrable self-seeded willow and lime.
An archaeological/architectural investigation in 2016-2017 by Historic England examined the the surviving fabric of Tabley Old Hall and the visible archaeology of the moated site, and collated an historical overview of the development of the Hall to inform the future management of the site. The surviving structures are in a poor, declining condition, and there is a risk, both immediate and severe, of further deterioration or loss of fabric. This study is published as volume 47-2017 in the Historic England Research Report series (11). The work was accompanied by a detailed photographic record held in the HE Archive. There is no public access to the site.
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