Porch House, Nantwich

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The Porch House, formerly sometimes the Porche House, is a large Georgian house, dating from the late 18th century, in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It is listed at grade II. [1] Located at numbers 64A and 64B on the north side of Welsh Row (at SJ6471452454 ), it is entered via its former stable entrance, The Gateway. Currently divided into two houses, the Porch House has previously served as a day and boarding school, and as a house for Belgian refugees. The existing building stands on the site of a 15th-century mansion of the same name.

Georgian architecture set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture. In the United States the term "Georgian" is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention", and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range.

Nantwich market town and civil parish in Cheshire, England

Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is known for having among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with particularly good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. In 2011, it had a population of 17,424.

Cheshire County of England

Cheshire is a county in North West England, bordering Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south, and Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough in Wales to the west. Cheshire's county town is the City of Chester (118,200); the largest town is Warrington (209,700). Other major towns include Crewe (71,722), Ellesmere Port (55,715), Macclesfield (52,044), Runcorn (61,789), Widnes (61,464) and Winsford (32,610), Northwich (19,924)

Contents

Nikolaus Pevsner considers Welsh Row to be "the best street of Nantwich". [2] The street has many listed buildings and is known for its mixture of architectural styles, [3] including timber-framed black-and-white cottages such as the Wilbraham's and Widows' Almshouses, Georgian town houses such as Townwell House and number 83, and Victorian buildings such as the former Grammar School, Savings Bank and Primitive Methodist Chapel.

Nikolaus Pevsner German-born British scholar

Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, The Buildings of England (1951–74).

Timber framing building technique, construction method using heavy squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers

Timber framing and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. It is commonplace in wooden buildings through the 19th century. If the structural frame of load-bearing timber is left exposed on the exterior of the building it may be referred to as half-timbered, and in many cases the infill between timbers will be used for decorative effect. The country most known for this kind of architecture is Germany. Timber framed houses are spread all over the country except in the southeast.

Wilbrahams Almshouses, Nantwich Grade II listed building in Nantwich, Cheshire, UK

The Wilbraham's Almshouses, also known as the Wilbraham Almshouses, are six former almshouses in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, located on the north side of Welsh Row at numbers 112–116. Founded by Sir Roger Wilbraham in 1613, they were the town's earliest almshouses. They remained in use as almshouses until 1870, when they were replaced by the adjacent Tollemache Almshouses. The timber-framed building, which is listed at grade II, was subsequently used as a malthouse and as cottages, and was later considerably altered to form a single house. The Hospital of St Lawrence, a medieval house for lepers, might have been situated nearby.

History

The existing Porch House was built on the site of a 15th-century mansion, also known as the Porch or Porche House. Until the early 21st century, Kingsley Fields (now a housing development) lay behind Porch House, and local historian James Hall considers that the original building might have been occupied in around 1400 by John Kingsley, a turbulent character who was a prominent Nantwich resident, holding part of the Barony of Nantwich between 1405 and 1431. [4] [5] [6] A follower of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, Kingsley fought against Henry IV at the Battle of Shrewsbury of 1403, but later obtained the king's pardon and became squire and later sergeant to Henry V, fighting for the king in Normandy in 1415 and subsequently. [6]

James Hall (historian) English antiquarian and schoolteacher

James Hall was an English antiquary, historian and schoolteacher, best known for his history of the Cheshire town of Nantwich, which remains among the principal sources for the town's history. He also edited accounts of the English Civil War and documents relating to Combermere Abbey. Another work on the history of Combermere Abbey, Newhall and Wrenbury was never published; its manuscript has been lost. Hall is commemorated in Nantwich in several ways, including a street named for him.

Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk 14th-century English peer

Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, 1st Earl of Nottingham, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, 6th Baron Mowbray, 7th Baron Segrave, KG, Earl Marshal was an English peer. As a result of his involvement in the power struggles which led up to the fall of Richard II, he was banished and died in exile in Venice.

Henry IV of England King of England

Henry IV, also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of France.

Henry Wettenhall of Dorfold, a member of one of the town's most important families, inherited the Porch House mansion in 1470. [4] [7] In the early and mid 17th century, it was the home of the Masseys and Wrights, also among the principal families of Nantwich. [4]

Acton, Cheshire village in Cheshire, England

Acton is a small village and civil parish lying immediately west of the town of Nantwich in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish covers 762 acres (3.08 km2) and also includes the small settlement of Dorfold and part of Burford, with an estimated population of 340 in 2006. It is administered jointly with the adjacent civil parishes of Henhull and Edleston. Historically, Acton refers to a township and also to an ancient parish in the Nantwich Hundred covering a wide area to the west of Nantwich. The area is agricultural, with dairy farming the main industry. Around a third of the area falls within the Dorfold Estate. Historically, agriculture was the major employer, but it has now been overtaken by the service industries, with many residents commuting significant distances outside the parish to work.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the present building was used as a private girls' boarding and day school, which later moved to Hospital Street. [8] [9] During the First World War it housed refugees from Belgium, leading to the house being popularly called "Belgium House". [8]

World War I 1914–1918 global war starting in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, the Seminal Catastrophe, and initially in North America as the European War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the resulting 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

The Gateway provides access to the Porch House The Gateway, Welsh Row, Nantwich2.jpg
The Gateway provides access to the Porch House

Description

The Porch House is a large, L-shaped house of three storeys in red brick under a slate roof, which is built around a courtyard. [1] It is set well back from the street behind The Gateway, formerly its stable entrance, through which it is accessed. [1] [2] The Porch House is currently divided into two houses. The original entrance is to the left-hand wing, and has an arched fanlight with a pediment above. The right-hand wing is a single bay wide and projects forwards; it has a modern entrance matching the original one. [1]

The Gateway, Nantwich Grade II listed building in Nantwich, Cheshire, UK

The Gateway, or 60–62 Welsh Row, is a Late Georgian former stable entrance in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, dating from the early 19th century. It is located on the north side of Welsh Row, on the junction with Red Lion Lane. It is listed at grade II. Nikolaus Pevsner describes The Gateway as "handsome".

Fanlight semicircular or semi-elliptical window with bars radiating out like an open fan, above another window or a doorway

A fanlight is a window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. The bars in the fixed glazed window spread out in the manner of a sunburst. It is also called a "sunburst light".

Pediment element in classical, neoclassical and baroque architecture

A pediment is an architectural element found particularly in classical, neoclassical and baroque architecture, and its derivatives, consisting of a gable, usually of a triangular shape, placed above the horizontal structure of the entablature, typically supported by columns. The tympanum, the triangular area within the pediment, is often decorated with relief sculpture.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Historic England. "The Porch House, Nantwich (1263672)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  2. 1 2 Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 289
  3. ↑ Bavington et al., plate 55
  4. 1 2 3 Hall, pp. 92–93, 172
  5. ↑ Lamberton & Gray, p. 16
  6. 1 2 Garton, pp. 35–42
  7. ↑ Garton, p. 50
  8. 1 2 Vaughan, pp. 18–19
  9. ↑ Kelly's Directory (1892)

Sources

Coordinates: 53°04′05″N2°31′40″W / 53.0680°N 2.5279°W / 53.0680; -2.5279

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