Leche House

The Leche Family
Leche House is located at 17 Watergate Street and Row, Chester, Cheshire, England. It is designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and incorporates a section of the Chester Rows. It is considered (by some) to be the best preserved medieval town house in Chester. Frank Simpson wrote of it:


 * This old house is situated in Watergate Street, nearly opposite Goss Street. Strange to say, it is, perhaps, the least known of all the old half-timbered houses in Chester, yet it contains some remains of its ancient grandeur, not at the present time to be seen elsewhere in the City. The half- timbered front may safely be included among the six best specimens of this old Cheshire style of architecture still remaining in the City, and in this case it has never undergone any modern restoration. It has always been described as the town house of the Leches of Garden, near Chester, erected about 1570 ; but the architectural details of the building do not support this view. 

John Leche, was surgeon (i.e. "leech") to King Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377) who by patent (50 Edw. III.) was grantee of Castle Warin, and other lands. He appears to have continued as surgeon the Richard II (although Richard was seldom in England) as Simpson records(Cheshire Recog: Rolls) the following:

" 1381-2 January 17. Grant to John Leche, the King's Surgeon by the King [Richard II.] of an annuity of ,10 to be received out of the issues of the Mills of the Dee, in lieu of a like annuity granted to him by Edward, Prince of Wales, to be received at the Exchequer at Chester."

The Leches of Garden are a complex family to trace as we few exceptions they named their eldest son John, and there are twenty John Leche's named on deeds and other documents. There is even a run of ten consecutive Johns from John Leche III (found not guilty of murdering Thomas Deck in Eastgate Street in 1384) to John XII (died 1711). Simpson observes:


 * George Leche was the second son, by survival, of John Leche of Garden, by Margaret, daughter and heiress of John Main waring of Ightfield. He eventually settled at Mollington, and founded there a branch of the Leche family. He had for his arms those of Leche of Garden, with a crescent on a crescent for difference, as allowed by Sir W. Dugdale. George Leche is always described as " Merchant of Chester." He was an Alderman, and one of the Sheriffs of Chester, 1536-7. He and his brothers, Henry and William (the latter of whom was one of the City Sheriffs in 1544-5, and the former in 1564-5), were admitted to the Freedom of the City, December 4th, 1552. This William Leche appears to be the one who sold the three shops, then in a very decayed state, at the north-east angle of the Cross, to the City for 20. They were, at that time, May, 1593, known as the " Butter shops." The site is now occupied by the clothiers, grocers, etc., we see to-day. The receipt for this transaction is in the Muniment Room at the Town Hall. In the Freemen's Rolls, he is described as an Ironmonger, but in HanshalPs Cheshire, p. 176-7, he is described as a Draper.

George Leche married Alice, daughter of John Dutton of Helsby, by whom he had three sons:
 * William Leche (William Leche married Elizabeth, daughter to Thomas Clud de Orlton, in the county of Salop, by whom he had issue two sons, John and George, and two daughters, Ann and Jane. He died November 27th, 1618, and was buried in St. Michael's Church, Chester (Cheshire Funeral Certificates)).
 * Robert Leche, LL.D., Chancellor of the Diocese of Chester, 1562-1587 (Robert Leche was appointed by patent from William (Downham) Bishop of Chester, December 9th, 1562. He was buried at Malpas);
 * Richard Leche, who became a Citizen and Merchant of London.

Richard married a daughter of Deane of Reading, Berks. ; and had issue one son, John, who was apprenticed to William Pixley, of Chester, Mercer, from whom he took up the Freedom of the City, January 29th, I584. 6 He, like several other members of the Leche family, became Sheriff, 1628-9, and an Alderman of Chester. William Pixley, or Pichley, was related, by marriage, to John Leche; the former having married Dorothy, daughter of Henry Leche, second son of John and Margaret Leche of Garden, and brother to George Leche. In the Cheshire Funeral Certificates he is described as:


 * "William Pichley of the Citty of Chester, Gent., he dyed sans yssue"

His widow eventually married her fifth husband,


 * "John Aldersey of the Citty of Chester, Alderman and Justice of Peace, [who] was maior of the Citty 1603. She died on the xxvj th day of May 1611, and was interred in St. John's Churche in the Citty aforesaid."

and indeed the house was built in the 17thC. for alderman John Leche of Mollington,

Simpson continues:

The Building

 * The front of Leche House contains some interesting details of carving. The whole length of the lower beam is carved with a running vine and bunches of grapes. Above and below this beam a row of dentels is cut out of the solid oak. The oak pilasters on either side each bear at the top grotesque heads, below which are two naked figures, male and female, each wearing a crown. The beam inside the Row is supported by three oak pillars with attached brackets carved with a floral design. The two centre pillars are round. The beam above the window is decorated with a scroll and leaf ornamentation, in which are carved five grotesque heads. The facia also bears the leaf ornamentation. The eight plaster panels above are partly filled in by shaped pieces of oak, on each of which is carved the fleur-de-lys. The two centre panels still show some of the old design of plaster decoration, bearing in each division a three leaved ornament. Above these panels is another massive beam on which are carved some scroll decoration and grotesque heads of animals. The scroll pattern at the extreme right, or west end, terminates with a carved thistle and leaf, and at the extreme east end with a fine Tudor rose and another large thistle leaf. The gable above is filled with curved and straight struts, the spaces between being filled in with plaster. The panels at the extreme ends, and in the centre, still show the original designs of ornamentation; in the centre of each is a Tudor rose. The barge boards are cusped; between each circle is a six-leaved flower, and along the top a row of carved dentels. In the centre of the gable is a fine finial carved with some floral decoration, and at the base a large head, above which is a large leaf. The finial is surmounted by a carved fleur-de-lys.

The Fleur-de-lys, Tudor rose and thistle are all emblematic of James I (of England) (King of England from 24 March 1603 until his death),

Sources and Links

 * James does an excellent review on ChesterTourist
 * Leche House on English Heritage;
 * Leche House on Pastscape;
 * Leche House on Wikipedia;
 * Leche House on ChesterNow;