Ince Manor

Ince Manor or Ince Grange is a former monastic grange in the village of Ince in the Ellesmere Port and Neston district of Cheshire, England (gbmapping|SJ44957655). The remains of the manor house, consisting of the old hall, and the monastery cottages are recognised as a Grade I listed building [cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=56301|title=Images of England: Manor House of Abbey of St Werburgh Chester |accessdate=2008-03-31 |publisher=English Heritage ] and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. [cite web |url=http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/sources.aspx?a=0&hob_id=69558&criteria=ince%20manor&search=all|title=Pastscape: |accessdate=2008-03-31 |publisher=English Heritage ] It one of only two surviving monastic manorial buildings in Cheshire, the other being Saighton Grange Gatehouse. [cite book | last =Pevsner | first =Nikolaus | authorlink =Nikolaus Pevsner | coauthors =Edward Hubbard | title =The Buildings of England: Cheshire |edition= | publisher =Yale University Press| date =2003| origyear=1971| location =New Haven & London| pages = 248| url = | doi = | id = | isbn =0 300 09588 0 ]

History

Ince Manor is one of the earliest recorded properties of St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester [The abbey church became Chester Cathedral at the dissolution of the monasteries.] and was recorded in the Domesday Book. In 1277 Edward I was entertained at the manor.cite web |url=http://www.ihbc.org.uk/branches/north_west/docs/north_west_news_7/news_7.htm |title=To the Manor Reborn |accessdate=2008-03-31 |publisher=Institute of Historic Building Conservation ] In 1399 and again 1410 a licence to crenellate was obtained.cite web |url=http://www.ecastles.co.uk/philipdavis/English%20sites/193.html |title=Ince Grange |accessdate=2008-03-31 |publisher=The Gatehouse ] Following the dissolution of the monasteries the manor remained in church ownership until 1547 when it passed to Sir Richard Cotton and from his son George to Sir Hugh Cholmondeley. It then passed to the Vale Royal branch of the Cholmondeleys until 1724, when it was sold by Charles Cholmondeley to Sir George Wynne of Leeswood. From his heiress, Margaret, the manor passed into the Waring family.cite book | last =Ormerod | first =George | authorlink =George Ormerod | coauthors =Thomas Helsby (Ed.) | title =The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester |edition=2nd | publisher =George Routledge and Sons | date =1882 | location =London | pages =ii: 12–13 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ] The range of domestic buildings dates probably from the late 13th or 14th century and the hall from the early 15th century. The engraving dating from the early 18th century by the topographical draughtsmen and engraver-printsellers Samuel Buck (1696-1779) and Nathaniel Buck (working 1724-1759) ("pictured") shows the cottages to be a ruin. Ormerod described the surviving buildings in the 19th century which were standing in grounds of "rather more than an acre" with a stone wall to the south and the remains of a moat on the other sides. The former domestic buildings were in use as a farmhouse and the old hall was being used as a barn.

Restoration

When the site was visited by the Chester Historic Buildings Preservation Trust in the early 1990s, the hall was protected by a 19th century roof. The domestic buildings had been in use as cottages until the 1960s but were then without roofs. English Heritage advised that it would be proper to restore the buildings and a feasibility study showed that restoration would be possible. The buildings were bought from the owner by Cheshire County Council, who passed them to the Preservation Trust. Restoration began in 2002, with funding mainly from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The buildings are now back in private ownership.

tocks

Adjacent to the manor are a pair of vertical stones embedded in the ground with grooves for timber stocks which are listed Grade II. [cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=56300 |title=Images of England: Stocks adjacent to Ince manor |accessdate=2008-03-31 |publisher=English Heritage ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thornber.net/cheshire/htmlfiles/ince.html Photographs by Craig Thornber showing the buildings before and during restoration]