Chester Society for Landscape History...Chester Society for Landscape History January 2011 Newsletter Number 48 Harvington Hall - read about it on page 8 Contents Chairman‟s Message

Chester Society for Landscape History

January 2011 Newsletter

Number 48

Harvington Hall - read about it on page 8

Contents

Chairman‟s Message 2 25 in 2011 Conference:

A Tale of Three Houses 3 Landscape Discoveries 20

Down to the Wyre 7 in the North West

The Year Ahead: Field Names Project 23

Lecture Programme 12 Member‟s Publications 24

Field Visits 16 Editor‟s Corner 24

Discovery Day 19

Wow – what a busy year 2010 has been

„behind the scenes‟ for CSLH! To this

end I must thank my fellow committee

members for all their efforts during the

past twelve months. The agenda for our monthly committee meetings continues

to grow as our Society embarks upon

new projects, whilst we continue to

endeavour to provide an interesting and

varied programme of lectures and field

visits.

2011 will undoubtedly be an even busier

year for the Society as we celebrate our

25th anniversary. Although you will

already be aware of our forthcoming

conference on Saturday 10th September, this edition of our newsletter contains

more detailed information on the

presenters and their talks (see pages 20-

22). Conference bookings can now be

made, and as our venue has a limited

capacity, I would urge you to book your

place early for what promises to be a

memorable day. A booking form is

either attached or included with this

newsletter.

Another new event for 2011 is our

„Discovery Day‟ offering members the

chance to sharpen their landscape

detecting skills. You can find out more

about this on page 19.

Yet another first for 2011 is that this

edition of our newsletter is being

received by many of our members on-

line. This „environmentally friendly‟

option will help the Society continue to

offer great value for money by cutting

its stationery, printing and postage costs

at a time of rising prices. Booking

forms for field trips and the conference can similarly be downloaded. However

paper copies will continue to be sent out

to members who do not have internet/

email access, or to those members who

have specifically requested them.

If you have your diary handy, pencil in

Monday 4th April 2011 when we shall

be holding our next social event - a

cheese and wine evening with a quiz

and auction. More details to follow.

Before closing I would like to ask if any

of you have a spare hour or two once a

month and would consider joining our

very vibrant committee. New ideas are

always welcome and I guarantee a few

laughs along the way. Just come and

have a chat with one of the committee

members if you are interested .

Finally, I would just like to wish you all

a very happy new year and I look forward to seeing you at our spring

lectures.

Sharon Varey

AGM

Just a reminder that our AGM will be

held on Monday 28th February 2011 at

7.15pm. Additional items for the

agenda should be forwarded to Mike

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Message from the Chair

Page 3

On the high ground of the sandstone outcrop looking towards Thurstaston

Common there are two large stately mansions: Frankby Hall and Hillbark Hotel.

At one time these were the homes of the Royden family, Liverpool shipbuilders

who by the end of the nineteenth century were involved in ship ownership and

management.

In the seventeenth century the Royden family were carpenters in Caldy, but by the

turn of the eighteenth century Liverpool was a tempting place for tradesmen, for

the port was developing at an astonishing rate. In 1808, Thomas Royden moved to

Liverpool to seek his fortune and secured employment as a master carpenter with

Charles Grayson, a prominent shipbuilding firm. By 1818 Thomas had set up on

his own and was the founder of Thomas Royson and Sons, shipbuilders of

Liverpool.

Despite working in Liverpool, Thomas‟s roots lay in Caldy and Frankby. With the

growth of the townscape of Liverpool and Birkenhead during the first half of the

nineteenth century, it became fashionable for the new breed of wealthy businessmen to invest and reside in an impressive family seat and thus they built

substantial houses on the airy Wirral hills.

In 1801, Thomas‟s father, Joseph, had purchased some land on the former

Rathbone Estate from

Gwyllyn Lloyd Wardle.

Thomas decided to build

on the unspoilt remote

hilly land formerly

tenanted by his family and

farming relatives and gradually he secured

parcels of surrounding

land. On this land

Frankby Hall was erected

in 1847, a unique

sandstone structure, with

distinctive castellated

turrets. The Hall occupies

a commanding site

overlooking the village

A Tale of Three Houses: the Royden family estate mansions at Frankby on the Wirral

Frankby Hall

and a good part of the surrounding countryside. It seems likely that the materials

for the house would have come from within a few miles radius, possibly from the

quarries at Irby or Heswall. Perhaps this is why it looks like a natural outcrop,

something cast up from the undulations of the Wirral landscape in which it sits.

Thomas died at Frankby Hall in 1868 and his son Thomas Bland Royden was

encouraged to follow in his father‟s footsteps and enter politics. He rose to greater

heights, becoming Tory MP for Toxteth and a JP in 1874, and Lord Mayor of

Liverpool 1878-79. In 1905 he became a Baronet in recognition of his concerns for

marine insurance and the safety of ships at sea, and was an enthusiastic supporter

of the introduction of the Plimsoll Line. Sir Thomas Bland Royden died in 1917.

His eldest son Sir Thomas Royden, 2nd Baronet, became Chairman of the Cunard

Line, as well as sitting on the board of the Midland Bank and Shell Transport. He

also held the office of High Sheriff and became a Baron in his own right in 1944.

He was the last owner of Frankby Hall. In the early 1930s, he left Frankby to move

down south to retire to his wife‟s home in Hampshire. In 1933 he decided to sell the estate and offered the Hall and its 61 acre estate to Hoylake Urban District

Council for £8,000. They turned the offer down.

The estate was finally sold to Wallasey Corporation for £12,500 for use as a

cemetery. Wallasey was fast running out of land when they acquired the estate and

there were some misgivings about establishing a cemetery in another authority‟s

area six miles away. The Liverpool Daily Post did not think much of the idea and

made the point that: “Not only will it be difficult for relatives of the deceased to

visit but motor hearses will be required.” It took seven years to transform the

estate into a cemetery. Many of the trees had to be felled and the area grassed

over. The main part of the Hall itself was converted into two chapels - one Church of England and Non-Conformist, the other Roman Catholic - complete with tall

Gothic windows. The cemetery officially opened in 1940, with space for 36,000

graves.

Today the other stately home near to Frankby Hall is “Hillbark”, one of the sights

of Wirral. Built on top of Frankby Hill – albeit a low hill – with Thurstaston

Common rolling away beneath its windows, its view of the Dee estuary and the

Welsh hills is uninterrupted. This beautiful, black and white, half-timbered,

pseudo-Elizabethan mansion was heavily influenced in design by Little Moreton

Hall, near Congleton in south-east Cheshire. The house was built in 1891 for

Robert William Hudson the soap manufacturer. However, the house is not in its

original location for it was originally sited on Bidston Hill where it was known as „Bidston Court‟. This was the home of Sir Thomas Royden‟s younger brother, Sir

Ernest Bland Royden, 3rd Baronet who purchased the house in 1921.

Page 4 Page 5

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On the death of Lady Royden‟s mother,

the original “Hillbark” became the

property of Lady Royden. The couple

decided to move back to Frankby but

did not want to leave “Bidston Court”

so they decided to take their home with

them. As a result, the original sandstone

“Hillbark” mansion, believed to have been erected on the site of a late

seventeenth century house, was pulled

down in 1929 to make way for „Bidston

Court‟. Every brick, stone, slate and

timber beam was numbered and the

whole building was dismantled and

transported by road to its new site in

Royden Park where it was re-erected

within three years (1929-31). “Bidston

Court” was then renamed „Hillbark‟.

„Bidston Court‟ a „transplanted‟ mansion, later renamed „Hillbark‟

(image courtesy of I. & M. Boumphrey)

Photo of the original „Hillbark‟, built in 1870

(image courtesy of I. & M. Boumphrey)

Sir Ernest Bland Royden died in 1960. By this time the family business interests

had been transferred to the south of England. Sir Ernest‟s eldest son, Sir John

Ledward Royden‟s business was in London and his family home was in Battle,

East Sussex. The family had no further interests on Merseyside and therefore sold

the family home and the 250 acres of parkland to Hoylake Urban District Council. The council reopened the mansion as a care home for the elderly and the

surrounding grounds became a public park. Following the closure of the care home

in the 1990s, “Hillbark” was converted into a fully modernised hotel, whilst still

retaining much of its character both inside and out.

Bibliography:

I. & M. Boumphrey, Yesterday’s Wirral Pictorial History 1890 to 1953 (2000),

pp.74 & 80.

K. Burnley, The Illustrated Portrait of Wirral (1987).

N. F. Ellison, The Wirral Peninsula (1955).

J. Pearson, Wirral: an illustrated review (2000).

D. Randall, The Search of Ancient Wirral, (2003). M. W. Royden, „The Roydens of Frankby‟, The Wirral Journal, Vol 3 No 3, Aug.

(1986), pp.24-27.

Useful websites:

www.roydenhistory.co.uk

www.oldwirral.com

NB. “Bidston Court” attracted the attention of the German Crown Prince in 1911.

From plans and photographs he had a copy of the mansion erected at Potsdam and

called it “Cecilianhof” in honour of his wife Cecilia. Despite raids by the American

Air Force in April 1945, the mansion escaped damage.

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John Lowe

Christmas Hamper Raffle

Congratulations to Peter Ledsham who won the Christmas hamper

raffle at our November lecture. Ruth and John Milliken were the

runners-up winning a bottle of white wine. A big „Thank You‟ to

everyone who purchased tickets. We raised £137.

Page 7

Our first port of call, on a very wet day, was the Halfpenny Green vineyard where

we gathered for coffee before having a look round. We looked in at some of the

staff cleaning out vats, and some members walked round some of the vines. There

are around fifteen different varieties of vine, all of which seemed to be producing a

bumper crop of grapes. The vineyard makes its own wines on site.

After lunch we drove to the small village of Rock with its large Norman church, of

St Peter and St Paul. Perhaps the main interesting features in the church are the

beautiful Norman arches, one over the entrance to the church, and the other the

chancel arch. Both are elaborately carved. Other objects of interest were the

twelfth century Norman bowl of the font, also beautifully carved, and the pre-reformation oak chest hewn from a solid oak tree trunk and studded. This is

thought to be a "Peter's pence chest". Outside the church, there are clear signs of

a moated manor house, and also a 'holloway' left over from a deserted village site

which unfortunately the local owner had ploughed up.

After this most interesting stop we moved onward to Stourport-on-Severn where

we explored the canal basins. Stourport grew up as a canal town and an inland

port, second only to Birmingham. By the early nineteenth century there were five

basins used by a large number of narrow boats bringing coal to Stourport (this

trade finished in 1949). In the 1920s petroleum and cocoa was brought up the

‘Down to the Wyre’ 14 - 16 September 2010

Halfpenny Green vineyard

River Severn from Bristol on barges, but this trade also petered out with the rise of

commercial road transport. The basins are now used for leisure boats, and the

remaining warehouses that line the basins have taken on new lives as

apartments. The size and number of the basins emphasise just how important a

port Stourport must have been until relatively recently.

Our second day began on a much brighter note, weather-wise, and we made our

way to our first destination, Harvington Hall, in great anticipation. The approach to

it was rather unusual - along a meandering narrow lane and a small housing estate -

then we rounded a truly huge tree stump on the final corner to find a lovely red-

bricked Elizabethan moated manor house. We were charmed by its setting beyond

the rich greenness of its fronting lawn but also by the jumble of roofs, their various

elevations and the lone tall chimney rising from the low middle section. A second

look at the towers flanking either side indicated the secrets hidden within the

house, for the levels of the windows did not match up. In fact that was even more

apparent in one of the walls at the back of the Hall where nine levels of windows

could be counted. It was entirely in keeping with the interior where there was a bewildering array of passages, many flights of stairs and of course the famous

„priests holes‟ hidden away in so many ingenious ways. We were shown at least

five on our tour and they ranged from a simple „box‟ below a trapdoor in a

passage, to a false fireplace which led up into the roof space, to the amazing

swinging beam hiding place in Dr. Dodd‟s Library – but only for a very thin priest

to negotiate! It was humbling to think of the Pakington family‟s commitment to the

Roman Catholic faith and the measures they were prepared to take to receive and

hide the succession of incoming priests at such a dangerous time and with possible

awful consequences.

Harvington Hall

Page 8

Page 9

Lunch was at the sixteenth century Talbot Inn in Chaddesley Corbett, a village of

Saxon origin, for a very welcome and hearty meal of soup and sandwiches. It was

good, though, first of all to stretch our legs with a stroll up and down the broad

main street and admire the succession of beautifully preserved black and white

timber framed houses and fine Georgian buildings. For a settlement that in 1086 seemed to have been as important as Kidderminster, if not more so, time appeared

to have stood still as far as any industry and growth, yet evidence of prosperity was

there in the buildings. It was noticeable how clean and tidy the whole street was

but also how free of modern disfiguring street signage, presumably a deliberate

policy by the local council. The Talbot itself was entirely in keeping with its

picturesque timber work, solid sandstone plinth and adorning flower tubs and

baskets.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in Bewdley, a town with a long history as a

crossing point and river port on the River Severn. Free to explore in fine sunshine

we decided on a walking tour with the help of a leaflet from the Tourist

Information Centre. We began at the (Old Butchers) Shambles now the Bewdley

Museum with its fascinating exhibition of the lives and crafts of the town through

the ages. We then continued down Load (locally a ford) Street to Telford‟s Bridge,

an elegant three arched structure with a simple balustrade, leading to the Stourport

Road. From the bridge, alongside the Severn, we followed the River of Words: the

lower level of pavement displaying the various terms for river crafts and the higher

one itemizing in roundels all the goods carried on the trading vessels. It was a delightful way of learning about this vital part of Bewdley‟s history and much

more interesting than the usual display panel. Our tour then took us into Queen

Elizabeth II Jubilee Gardens with a lovely wild flower and sculpture area before

continuing along Lax Lane to find Lower Park House, the childhood home of PM

Black and white timber framing in Chaddesley Corbett

Stanley Baldwin. In the final leg along High Street we were impressed yet again

with the many fine timber framed houses, notably Church House and the elaborate

Bailiff‟s House of 1610. By then we were ready for the welcome tea and cake at St.

Anne‟s Church which we had been promised. This was a very satisfying end to a

varied and thoroughly enjoyable day.

In contrast to Wednesday‟s mainly urban emphases, Thursday‟s visits were of rural

flavour, starting at the newly opened Discovery Centre in the middle of the wooded

area of the ancient hunting forest of Wyre - appropriately having to wait whilst tree

surgeons attended to the branches of trees above us. The Centre is primarily

constructed from green oak from the forest, and is in itself a model and delightful

educational centre. Amongst its many environmentally friendly credentials is that it

uses rainwater from a green roof in its toilet blocks.

It was also a delight to listen to Adam Mindykowski at the centre as he ably and

enthusiastically set the Forest into its wider historical and geographical context.

He described the projects being developed, with the aid of Heritage Lottery Funds,

to promote and manage its historic landscape. He showed us how its role as a

forest could be traced from prehistoric times, through the twelfth and thirteenth

centuries up to the present day, using tell-tale patterns left on the ground. These

can be revealed by aerial laser surveying. The LIDAR (Light Detecting and

Ranging) technique allows researchers, including trained community volunteers, to

interpret previously hidden archaeological surface features in wooded areas by

„virtually‟ removing the tree canopy - a fascinating twenty-first century application

of scientific method.

We were sorry we did not have more time to explore the woods further. However

it was equally as interesting to be accompanied by Adam on an exploration of

Pound Green Common. This Common is a rare example of the way many areas of

Britain were once farmed, with scattered cottages and „infields‟ bordering shared

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Somewhere in Bewdley!

Page 11

open grazing land. It

retains its „Commoners‟,

living in cottages which

have been built with the

permission of the local lord of the manor. We

were privileged to hear at

„first hand‟ about the

history and ecology of

the Common from

Godfrey Jones, himself a

Commoner. A refreshing

walk for the more active

members took us through

a multitude of fascinating

insights into the history and management of the Common and its land use, past and

present. Amongst many other interesting things, Adam took us past a relict orchard, 300 year old anthills and traces of ridge and furrow. We held our breath

whilst a large explosion indicated a twenty-first century diversification - a very

active rocket engine testing area within the heathland area.

The day and our study tour ended with a short drive (appropriately on the route

home to Chester) to Kinver, where a complex of „Rock Houses‟ - dwellings in the

landscape, can be explored. Restored by the National Trust, one can imagine life

in Victorian times, when up to eleven families lived here. With productive gardens

and fresher air, life expectancy was higher here than in the congested and

insanitary towns.

Several of the more active members enjoyed a brisk walk up to the top of the

sandstone ridge above Kinver Edge, and all went home happy and invigorated after

another very successful, well organised study tour.

Anne Rowe, Gillian Langrick and Breta Lloyd

Adam talking to the troops!

A Landscape History Alphabet

Our second publication, A Landscape History Alphabet, which was on sale at the

Cheshire Local History Day and at our November lecture, has proved very

popular. We have less than ten copies remaining from our first print-run. The booklet costs £4.00 and can be purchased at lectures.

Monday 24 January 2011: Professor Chris Dyer: ‘Cotswold landscapes from

prehistory until 1600: some myths exposed'

Christopher Dyer has recently retired as Professor of Regional and Local History at

the University of Leicester, having previously been Professor of Medieval Social History at the University of Birmingham. From January 2011 he holds a

Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

His books include Standard of Living in the Later Middle Ages, Making a Living

in the Middle Ages, and An Age of Transition. His numerous articles include

publications on the woodland landscapes of the midlands, and on champion

landscapes, including Compton Verney. His research on the Cotswolds includes

three village studies alongside various general works.

The Cotswold Hills have a reputation for the beauty of the countryside and

especially of its stone built villages. It now provides homes for numerous

politicians, media personalities, writers and the new rich. It acquired its modern

reputation towards the end of the nineteenth century, and it has not always been a desirable place to live. This lecture aims at a realistic demolition of the myths

which are widely believed by its wealthy but often ill-informed inhabitants. Its

villages are not timeless, it has not always been lived in by sheep for the special

breed of Cotswold sheep is a late development, the district has not always enjoyed

great prosperity, and the „wool towns‟ are misnamed. Debunking the modern

image of the Cotswolds makes us think about our approach to the landscape in

general. The lecturer has a particular antipathy to the word „nestles‟, as in „the

village nestles in the valley‟, and will show why it is a crime against the English

language and the landscape to use the term.

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Lecture Programme

Looking Forward - The Year Ahead Lectures, Visits and Discovery Day

Page 12 Page 13

Monday 28 February 2011: Ed Bennis: ‘Boogie-woogie, Flappers, Bathtub

Gin and … the Modernist Garden’

Ed Bennis qualified as a landscape architect in the United States and obtained a

post-graduate degree in historic conservation at the University of York. Head of the Landscape Architecture programme at Manchester Metropolitan University for

13 years, he is currently head of the Centre for Landscape Research at the

university. As well as teaching history and theory, he has been involved in

research and practice for regional governments, English Heritage and private

companies. He has co-authored books, published and lectured extensively. He has

led and worked on several EU projects dealing with landscape issues in the UK,

Italy, Portugal, France, and Germany. As a visiting Professor of Landscape

Architecture in Novi Sad, Serbia, he has run Master Classes there for five years as

well as classes in Beijing and Guangzhou. Currently he is researching and

advising East Cheshire and Lancashire County Councils on their historic parks and

gardens, as well as being chair of Cheshire Gardens Trust. More information can

be found at: http://www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk/profile/ebennis

It often seems that things that are closest to us in time and place, are those things

that we have the least knowledge and understanding. Ed‟s interest in the modern

landscape, specifically modernism, developed through his work in Europe and

lectures in the United States. While the roots of modernism are well researched in

art and architecture, there is little that has addressed the designed landscape.

Discovering Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe‟s water garden for the Cadbury factory at

Moreton (1952) was a key moment. This was followed by investigating the work

of Jan Canneel-Claes in Belgium which showed that the modernist garden was far

from the mechanical and austere ideal that we too often assume. One garden

survived the war, fashion and time: it was in fact a family garden (1937) that has retained almost completely its original form for seventy years. Ed‟s presentation

will look at the context, reasoning and detail of this neglected period of twentieth-

century design.

Monday 28 March 2011: Pete Lewis: ‘Wat’s Dyke’

Pete Lewis is a university lecturer in corporate governance and finance, but outside

teaching hours is to be found walking the border countryside. Together with a

team of like-minded ramblers, he was instrumental in creating the Wat‟s Dyke

Way and subsequently promoting it for National Long-Distance Footpath status.

The Way runs for 61 miles between Llanymynech and Holywell. Pete is the author

of Wat’s Dyke Way Heritage Trail, the standard guidebook to the Way, as well as Rural Walks in Flintshire and several other guides – he aims to produce one every

summer.

Page 14

Wat‟s Dyke has always been a mystery. Pete will pose some simple questions

about it and then demonstrate that the answers are very complicated – What was

the purpose of the Dyke? Who was Wat? When was the dyke built, and who built

it?

Monday 26 September 2011: Professor Peter Gaunt: ‘The Landscape of the

Civil War in Cheshire and further afield’

Peter Gaunt has been at the University of Chester since the early 1990s, having

previously held academic posts at the Universities of London (Royal Holloway)

and Wales (Swansea), plus a spell at the Victoria University of Wellington in New

Zealand. The bulk of his research and writing focuses on the history of England

and Wales and of Britain as a whole during the mid seventeenth century, ranging

across the military history of the civil wars of the 1640s and the political and

constitutional history of the post-war republican regimes of the 1650s. He has

written or edited ten books, including mainly military studies of the civil war in

Wales, in England and Wales and in Britain as a whole, together with two (different) biographies of Oliver Cromwell and an edition of the correspondence of

Henry Cromwell; he has published around 40 articles and chapters in the same

general areas, including work on the civil war in Cheshire, the North West and

Wales. However, he also has a background in archaeology, architecture and the

historic landscape, having studied archaeology for part of his first degree and then

spending large parts of the 1980s working as an archaeologist, an architectural

historian and a landscape historian. He has drawn upon this background by relating

the physical (urban and rural) landscape of the mid seventeenth century to the

course, outcome and surviving legacy of the civil war and this interplay will form

the basis of this lecture.

For this lecture, Peter will reassess the course of the civil war in Cheshire – the

county was caught up in the conflict more or less from the outbreak of war in summer 1642 until close to its conclusion in late spring/early summer 1646. For

much of that time it was a divided county, with the parliamentarians holding most

of central and eastern Cheshire, the royalists the western parts, including the Dee

valley, the Wirral and of course Chester itself. Peter will explore how far that key

division of allegiance can be attributed to physical factors and so can be linked to

the landscape, as well as exploring how geographical factors, including the nature

of Cheshire‟s topography, its borders and its position within the wider region and

the county‟s position in relation to the royalist and parliamentarian HQs at Oxford

and London respectively, impacted upon the course, nature and outcome of the

civil war in Cheshire.

Page 14 Page 15

Monday 31 October 2011: Professor David Hey: ‘The Peak District Grouse

Moors’

David Hey is Emeritus Professor of Local and Family History at the University of

Sheffield. He is currently President of the British Association for Local History, Chairman of the British Record Society, and the author of numerous books,

including Derbyshire: A History (Carnegie, 2008).

The enclosure of huge acreages of commons and wastes in the late eighteenth and

early nineteenth centuries under a series of private Acts of Parliament enabled

great landowners to form compact moorland estates that were devoted to the

shooting of grouse. The Peak District moors began to acquire their present

managed appearance when grouse were first reared on an unprecedented scale in

Queen Victoria‟s reign. The characteristic patchwork patterns of the moorland

landscape are created by burning the heather in rotation on a ten or twelve-year

cycle. Controlled fires in winter time encourage the spring growth of fresh shoots

for the grouse to feed upon while patches of thick heather provide safe nesting out of the sight of predators. Burning the heather was an ancient practice, for sheep,

too, relished young shoots, but it was done on a modest scale before the

introduction of shooting butts in the 1860s. The heyday of grouse shooting was in

the late Victorian and Edwardian era. If „sporting estates‟ had not been created at

that time, it seems likely that many moors would now be covered with conifers and

others would have been encroached upon by new, rectangular pastures and

meadows around their edges. Similarly most of the prehistoric and medieval

archaeological sites, and the visual evidence of early forms of transport would have

been lost, or at least hidden from view.

Monday 28 November 2011: Professor Cynthia Burek: ‘Geodiversity and

Geoconservation in Cheshire’s Landscape’

Cynthia Burek has been at the University of Chester since the early 1990s, having

previously held academic posts at the Universities of NEWI (now Glyndŵr

University) and Staffordshire University and she has been an associate lecturer for

the Open University since 1980. Prior to that she was at the University of Syracuse

in upstate New York for four years. In 2005 she was given a chair in

Geoconservation, the first in the world. The bulk of her research and writing

focuses on Geoconservation or the history of women in geology. She has edited

three books, including The History of Palaeobotany (2005), The History of

Geoconservation (2008) and The Role of Women in the History of Geology (2007).

At present she is researching marine geoconservation and limestone pavement habitat conservation, as well as the effect of climate change on geodiversity. She

has made several TV and radio appearances including Coast and Material World.

She serves on the GeoConservation Commission of the Geological Society of

London and the Executive of Geoconservation UK and she convenes the

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International Federation of University Women Fellowship Committee. Locally she

represents the Cheshire RIGS group on the Saltscape HLF bid and chairs the North

East Wales RIGS group.

This talk will look at the definitions of geodiversity and geoconservation and apply those concepts to local landscapes especially Cheshire. Why is colour so important

to our county? Why is it necessary to conserve rocks? What is the difference

between preservation and conservation and how do the different philosophies apply

to a healthy natural landscape. Where do soils fit in? These are the questions that

will be addressed during the lecture.

Mike Headon

A message from Mike and Maggie Taylor:

Sincere thanks to all those members who organised visits during 2010. They were:

Peter Roberts (Rhos), Julie Smalley (Middlewich), Tom and Fiona Swailes

(Bollington), Graeme White (Ashbourne), Hilary and Monty Cordwell (Gop Cairn

and the caves), and remembering the late Carmen Johnson who navigated the bureaucracy of Shell, Peel Holdings and the Port of Liverpool to get us to Stanlaw.

Especially, too, we would like to record thanks to Jennifer and Mike Kennerley for

the study break in the Wyre Forest.

In our 25th Anniversary year our programme of events showcases the variety of

activities CSLH has to offer. The field visits programme has changed slightly to

accommodate a late Easter, May Bank Holidays, an early Residential and the

Conference. All our visits will take place on Sundays this year; this may

disappoint some members but there may be opportunities where you can join us for

the afternoon. Please indicate this on the Booking Form.

Sunday June 5th, ‘Houses of Mold, Tower and St. Mary’s Church, Mold’

Leader: David Rowe Start time: 10.30 a.m.

As a border town, Mold has played an important part in Welsh history and its

surroundings contain many buildings reflecting this rich tapestry. Culture is well

represented in the town and amongst others can boast being the birthplace of the

'Dickens of Wales', Daniel Owen and the burial place of the great British

Field Visit Programme

Page 16 Page 17

Landscape painter and a founder member of the Royal Academy of Arts, Richard

Wilson.

The day's activities will be split into three parts commencing with a guided walk of

the town to discover the origins of the medieval town, the history of its buildings and people, and to learn of the common link between W.E. Gladstone and the

WWII story of 'The Man Who Never Was'.

After lunch we will visit what a BBC Wales programme featured as one the 'Great

Houses of Wales', the fifteenth-century castellated house called Tower situated on

the outskirts of Mold. It was here in 1465 that a former Mayor of Chester came to a

violent end at the hands of the owner Rheinallt ap Gruffydd ap Bleddyn. A

Lancastrian supporter, Rheinallt, was part of the rebel garrison at Harlech

supporting Jasper Tudor and the exiled Henry VI against Edward IV. Moving on

through the centuries, Tower has a number of connections with the Peninsular

Wars and we will learn about the link with Field Marshal Combermere whose

statue sits proudly in the middle of the road opposite Chester Castle. The current owner Charles Wynne-Eyton is a descendent of Rheinallt and he will be on hand to

provide further background to the house and its families.

We return to Mold for the final part of the visit with a guided tour of the parish

church, St. Mary the Virgin. A church has existed on the site since the twelfth

century when the Norman Lords of Mold, the Montalt family, erected an earlier

church but the core of the present building commenced in the late fifteenth or early

sixteenth century under the patronage of Lady Margaret Beaufort, wife of Lord

Stanley. This was one of a number of churches patronised by Lady Margaret

Beaufort to celebrate the victory in 1485 of her son Henry Tudor over Richard III

at the Battle of Bosworth. Amongst other points of interest, the church contains many of the heraldic symbols of the Stanley family.

Please note that there will be an additional charge for entrance to Tower. This will

cost approximately £7 and will include an afternoon tea. This part of the trip is

entirely optional.

Sunday 26th, President’s Visit: ‘In and Around Lancaster’

Leader: Professor Graeme White Start Time 10.30 a.m.

This visit is of interest not only for the castle, priory church, medieval street

pattern, Roman remains and redeveloped quayside of the historic city of Lancaster

(though it only became a „city‟ in 1937) but also for the development of transport systems. We meet at 10.00 a.m. at Charnock Richard service station on the M6

northbound and proceed from there along the first experimental motorway in

Britain, the Preston bypass opened in December 1958 (a few original features of

which remain), and the A6 north of Preston into Lancaster (which has some

excellent evidence of its turnpike past). In Lancaster itself we encounter the

Lancaster Canal (opened in 1797 to link the coalfields of the south of the county

with the limestone of the north), the legacy of the city‟s role as a port, and the west

coast main railway line which, when it opened from Preston to Lancaster in 1840,

made this for the next six years the northern terminus.

Within the city, we shall visit St George‟s Quay on the River Lune, then walk past

remains of the Roman auxiliary fort to the priory church (noted for fourteenth-

century misericords, earlier than those at Chester), and the castle (exterior only - it

is still used as a prison). There will then be an opportunity to explore Lancaster

individually and to have lunch. For those who wish to stay on beyond mid-

afternoon, there will be a drive past the Ashton Memorial of 1908 and the Duchy

of Lancaster‟s Quernmore Forest to Crook of Lune, north-east of the city, where

there are the remains of the Morecambe to Skipton „Little‟ North Western railway

opened in 1849.

Directions on where to park in Lancaster will be issued at the rendezvous at Charnock Richard However, anyone who wants to go direct to Lancaster (e.g. by

rail) should aim to be at the millennium footbridge on the south bank of the river

by 11.15a.m. Those completing the full visit should be back in Chester -

motorway traffic permitting - by about 6.30 p.m.

Sunday 17th July, ‘Lymm and Old Warburton’

Leaders: Maggie and Mike Taylor Start time: 10.30 a.m.

Whilst modern Lymm is a threatening reminder of how to ruin a place by rampant

and ghastly development, the core of the old village can still be recognised and is

interesting. The early settlement grew alongside a vigorous stream that drains to the Mersey. After the Conquest, the manor descended to the Domvilles who built

several halls, two of which, one Tudor, the other Elizabethan, are still occupied; we

will go through their grounds. This South-North axis was bisected in the

eighteenth century by the Bridgewater Canal that cut straight through the old

market place. Fifty years later, the Chester-Stockport turnpike was not so welcome

and it was routed around the village via an embankment that dammed the stream.

Salt extraction and fustian cutting have now gone but the manufacture of gold leaf

continues to the present day.

This is a visit for walkers: we will walk up the valley, following the stream,

feeding the ducks and using our „landscape eyes‟ to see the old Lymm.

After lunch, we will drive to Warburton to visit the old church of St Werburgh.

Pevsner described it as „a muddle‟ - rather an understatement! Partly half-

timbered, using frames that seem to have come from two earlier buildings, it also

has a brick tower dated 1711. We will also discuss the earlier priory, toll bridges

Page 18

over dry river beds, cruck-framed cottages and farms - and even spot some

dinosaurs‟ footprints!

Bring decent walking gear (2-4 miles) and food suitable for ducks. Expect cobbled

and uneven surfaces and some steps. A good visit for walking families.

Sunday 11th September, ‘Neston Collieries and the Surrounding Landscape’

Leader : Anthony Annakin-Smith Start time: 2.00 p.m.

The Neston collieries were the only coal mines in west Cheshire and operated for

most of the period from 1759 to 1927. They were remarkable in many ways, not

least for their canals which ran under the Dee estuary.

Anthony Annakin-Smith will lead members and conference delegates around the

former mining area looking at remaining signs of the works in the landscape. The

walk gives breath-taking views of the estuary and will include other aspects of

history along this stretch of the Dee.

Page 18 Page 19

Discovery Day Saturday 2nd July 2011

Field trips prove highly popular each year and are often oversubscribed. The

appeal is a chance to enter familiar landscapes…and unravel their less familiar

historic secrets.

New for 2011 - a Discovery Day is planned in which participants get to do a little of their own landscape detection. Using a selection of maps and printed sources as

essential input, the day will include task suggestions and hints to guide us along a

walking route, and final plenary to compare notes.

The overall aim is that by the end of the day, observation and analysis skills will be

sharpened…or at the very least we will know the kind of questions to ask! For,

what is learnt in one context can usually be applied to other landscapes and urban

settings.

Discovery Day 2011 is provisionally set for Saturday 2nd July and will use the

town of Middlewich in mid-Cheshire as an easily explorable example. Further

details will be sent out nearer the time. Come along and discover!

Julie Smalley

Page 20

Programme

Registration and coffee (9:00am)

Welcome & Introduction (9:30am)

CSLH – Past, Present & Future

Keynote Address: Stewart Ainsworth

Morning Coffee

Celebrating 25 Years:

„Black and white houses to black and white cows; an untold story!‟

Sharon Varey

„Walk mill on the R. Gowy, Foulk Stapleford‟

John Whittle

„Settlements and their shapes in NE Wales‟

Mike Headon

„Large enclosures in the Cheshire landscape‟

Anthony Annakin-Smith

Buffet Lunch

„Ness Gardens and the landscape‟

Paul Cook

Free time to explore Ness Gardens

‟New views of old roads: turnpikes in the Cheshire landscape 1700-1900‟

Alan Crosby

Tea and Scones

„The enclosure of West Cheshire: keeping ahead of champion England‟

Graeme White

Landscape Discoveries in the North West

Page 20 Page 21

The Presenters and their talks

Stewart Ainsworth is a senior archaeological investigator with the English

Heritage Research Department. A long-time Chester resident, he is well-known to

everyone as Time Team's lumps-and-bumps man and landscape detective. In his keynote address, he will discuss the value of a new tool - known as LIDAR - to

aid landscape research, and discuss its use in relation to new research at Stanlow

Abbey and other sites in the north of England.

Paul Cook is the Curator at Ness Gardens. Previously he was Head Gardener at

Arley Hall near Northwich. Before that he ran his own landscape business and was

a Lecturer at Reaseheath College. He trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew

where his interest in Botany and a broader view of horticulture and conservation

was encouraged.

Paul will talk about the development of Ness, looking at its founder Arthur Kilpin

Bulley and his influence on horticulture and plant collecting. He will consider the University years from 1948 to the present and future plans for Ness as a Botanic

Garden and visitor attraction.

Alan Crosby is one of Britain‟s most prominent local historians. Since 2001 he

has been editor of The Local Historian and is a main contributor to the BBC Who

Do You Think You Are? magazine. He is an honorary research fellow at the

universities of Lancaster and Liverpool, and was co-author of the English Heritage

volume on the landscape of North West England (2006). Among his other books

are A History of Cheshire (1998) and the History of Warrington (2002).

Alan will be talking about the turnpike roads of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and how they have long been under-appreciated as an element in the

landscape, apparently unable to match the glamour of railways and canals.

Nevertheless he will argue that their contribution to the economic development of

Britain, and to the industrialisation of our region, is of central importance. He will

also consider their significance in terms of design and construction. This lecture

considers the turnpikes of the county, highlighting their enduring impact upon

upland and lowland landscapes alike.

As well as President of our Society, Graeme White is Emeritus Professor of Local

History at the University of Chester. He launched the Diploma in Landscape

History (later to become the MA in Landscape, Heritage and Society) in 1978 at

what was then Chester College. He is a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society, having published a number of books and articles

on both the government of twelfth-century England under Kings Stephen and

Henry II and the open fields and rural settlement of medieval Cheshire.

Page 22

In his talk Graeme will consider the distribution of open fields in medieval west

Cheshire and in particular the processes by which they became enclosed from the

late medieval period through to the eighteenth century, with local examples. These

processes are compared and contrasted with those which pertained in the central

zone of England - so-called 'champion England' - and there is discussion of how far one or other experience could in any sense be regarded as 'superior'.

Member’s Research papers

Sharon Varey: Black and white houses to black and white cows – an untold story!

Sharon is a former primary teacher who spent the last six years of her teaching

career working in north Shropshire. Her talk originates from her recent PhD

research into this area and will consider the economy of a Shropshire parish c1550-

2000 – a period which witnessed considerable changes within the farming

economy.

Mike Headon: Settlements and their shapes in north-east Wales Mike is a retired higher education lecturer. He is particularly interested in the

landscape history of Wales. He will look at the different types of settlement to be

found in north-east Wales, how they might be classified, and why they might be

the shape they are.

John Whittle: Walk Mill on the River Gowy in Foulk Stapleford

After retiring from a life-long career as a research scientist in the petroleum

industry John became active in Local History. He has edited five books on the area

where he lives and has had a number of articles published in Cheshire

History. John will consider the origins of Walk Mill, a recently reconstructed

water mill from its early days as a fulling mill and later as a flour grinding mill and its location in the landscape.

Anthony Annakin-Smith: Large Enclosures in the Cheshire Landscape

Anthony is a lecturer and writer who became interested in landscape history to try

to satisfy his curiosity during country walks, and has used some of his knowledge

to write the popular book „Wirral Walks‟. Anthony will discuss the form and

purpose of large enclosures in the Cheshire landscape. These enclosures range

from deer parks to more enigmatic „oval enclosures‟ and their associated

structures. What form did these various enclosures take, how and why were they

designed, and what influence did they have on the later landscape? The discussion

will also consider the dating evidence - while many of the structures are medieval

in origin, did some originate in much earlier times?

Sharon, Mike, John and Anthony are all former graduates of the MA in Landscape

History run by Chester College (now the University of Chester).

Page 22 Page 23

The Field-Names Project is continuing to flourish, with research currently focusing

on the following areas: Backford, Barrow, Baschurch, Bidston, Erddig, Foulk

Stapleford, Northop, Shotwick, Tarvin, Tattenhall, Thelwall and Tranmere.

We‟d love to extend our investigations to other places in Cheshire, Shropshire and

North Wales, so if you‟d like to get involved or share your existing research with

us, you‟ll be welcomed with open arms.

Why do field-names matter so much? Basically they provide invaluable snapshots of landscape topography, geology, usage and ownership. For instance, the

incidence of Hog Meadow in Taxal tells us that pig-farming occurred in east

Cheshire, while names like Three Day Math („three days‟ mowing‟) indicate how

long was spent on particular agricultural tasks and give an idea of the relative size

of meadowland. Even more graphically, some names may record long-ago

incidents which affected the well-being of an entire community, as in the case of

the sorrowful thirteenth-century Buckinghamshire field-name, Thertheoxlaydede.

Various field-name elements – croft, worth, pingot, loons – occur time and again,

but we don‟t yet know which is the commonest or whether this varies according to

parish or county. We are therefore creating a database which will enable us to analyse a range of factors relating to occurrence and typology of names. Along the

way all manner of fascinating information about our local landscape history is

emerging.

The next Field-Names Project meeting will take place 7-9pm at Ashton Hayes

Parish Rooms on Monday the 31st of January 2011 – all welcome.

At the meeting, John Hess will be speaking about field-names in Backford. After

his presentation everyone will be invited to discuss similarities and differences

between field-names in Backford and their own area, and there will be a chance to

pool knowledge about tricky and unusual field-name elements.

For more information about the project or the forthcoming meeting, please contact

Vanessa Greatorex Roskilly at: [email protected]

Field-Names Project

Vanessa Greatorex Roskilly

Editor’s Corner

Visit us at www.chesterlandscapehistory.org.uk

© Chester Society for Landscape History, 2005-2011

Page 24

Editor: Sharon Varey, Meadow Brook, 49 Peel Crescent, Ashton Hayes,

Cheshire, CH3 8DA

Email: [email protected]

Members Publications

No Mean City: A Local History of Thelwall in Cheshire

by Mike Taylor

Thelwall is better known for its Viaduct than

its history. The massive structures span the

east-west transport routes that shaped the

development of the Thelwall landscape – the

River Mersey, Bridgewater and Manchester Ship Canals and the railway. Despite claims

to city status dating to the time of King

Edward the Elder, the village has somehow

always seemed isolated from the main

traffic of its day.

Few people travelling over the Viaduct

would notice the village that gave it its name

or know its secrets – the gunpowder mill

that supplied both sides in the American

War of Independence, links to the

Triangular Trade, and eye watering amounts of debt incurred by some Lords of the

Maonr whose gestures in life and bequests

in death were unsustainable.

Any items for the next newsletter need to be submitted by

15th July 2011.

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FIELD VISITS BOOKING FORM 2011

Members are asked to indicate below the visits in which they would like to take part. As usual, these visits are available only to members of the Society. A non-returnable deposit of £3.00 per person per visit will be requested once a place on the visit has been confirmed by the Field Visits Organiser after 8 February 2011.

Completed forms should be sent to reach Mike Taylor, Thelwall Lea, Halfacre Lane, Thelwall, Warrington WA4 3JE no later than Monday 7 February 2011, accompanied by a stamped and self-addressed envelope. Where a visit is over-subscribed, we will allocate places by lot; unsuccessful applicants will be put on a waiting list. Please contact Mike Taylor ([email protected] or 01925 263184) if you find are unable to attend so that your places can be offered to those on the waiting list.

We will send joining instructions by e-mail where possible in order to save on postage costs; please check your e-mail boxes 2 to 3 weeks before each visit. Name of Member(s)………………………………………………………………… Address…………………………………………………………………………………. e-mail address…………………………………………………………………………

Programme for 2011

Date Start Time Visit Title No. of places

Fee/person Total Fee

Sunday June 5th

10.30 am Houses of Mold and Tower

£3*

Sunday 26th June

10.30 am President’s Visit: Lancaster

£3

Sunday 17th July

10.30 am Lymm and Warburton

£3

Sunday 11th

September

2.00 pm Neston Collieries and Surrounding

Landscape

£3

*plus admission charge for Tower – this part of the visit is optional

Please send no money with this form. Members are reminded that they are responsible for arranging their own insurance. The Society does not provide accident insurance for members.