Hoole

Overview


Hoole is one of the largest neighbourhoods in Chester. Situated roughly a mile north-east of the city centre, Hoole starts from the Hoole Railway Bridge and runs all the way up Hoole Road (A56) to the Hoole Hall roundabout, where the M56 motorway starts.

It is a popular residential neighbourhood. Most of the current housing stock consists of Victorian terraces of houses and villas, and semi-detached houses dating from the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Hoole declined into genteel decay. Many of the larger properties were divided into bedsits and small flats to provide housing for students and the unemployed. Since the mid-1990s, the area has once again become desirable. The large Victorian villas are being restored to their original purpose as family homes. One reason for Hoole's popularity is its proximity to Chester Station - ideal for commuters.

A Brief History


The ancient village of Hoole dates back to at least 1119, when it was first recorded in the records of the Chartulary of the Abbey of St. Werburgh. It remained a separate entity until 1954, when it was incorporated into the City of Chester.

Hoole lies on the Roman road which leaves Chester via Frodsham Street and Brook Street, continuing through Flookersbrook into Newton Hollows, which still exists as a sunken pathway and connected with Mannings Lane before the construction of the now disused railway. Mannings Lane then continues the line through Hoole Bank, and it becomes known as "The Street" in Mickle Trafford, a name which frequently denotes a Roman road. The name "Hoole" is thought to mean 'at the Hollows' (or hole) and most likely refers to the 'hollow way' formed by the road. The modern Hoole Road follows a parallel course. "Hoel" means a "paved way or road" in Welsh, and this could be the origin of its name.

Flookersbrook is where cattle were watered on their way to the market in the city and for many years was the boundary of the City of Chester.

The Valley of Demons
Early tourists were somewhat disparaging:


 * "The native of Chester remembers how three roads branch off outside Eastgate and how beautiful and pleasing are the names of the places to which they lead. The road straight in front straight in front leads to Christ's Town (Christleton), that on the right to the Old Ford (Aldford) but if it turns to the left it comes to a place which they rightly call the Valley of Demons (Hoole) with reference to the hiding places of those who lie in wait... the wanderer... is despoiled by thieves and robbers" ---Lucien the Monk

The fear of robbery probably stemed from the fact that Hoole Heath had been granted by the Earl's of Chester as a sanctuary for criminals who had fled to the Palatine county of Chester. Hugh of Avranches established three "asyla" in Cheshire. These were at Hoole Heath near Chester, Overmarsh near Farndon and Rud Heath near Middlewich. These were places to which a felon from any place in the country (or Wales) could flee and seek the protection of the Earl. The sanctuary at Hoole Heath may well be the reason for the bad reputation of Newton Hollows. Hemingway describes them as follows:


 * These sanctuaries were the source of much emolument to the earls, who received fines from all such persons when they came to reside under their protection a heriot at their death and in case of their dying without issue claimed their goods and chattels.

Thus we see that the tale of criminals being free if they escaped the "hue and cry" and reached Chester is only partly true. Much later, in the times of Edward II, they were described as follows:


 * By an inquisition taken before Hugh de Audelith Justice of Chester on Sunday after the feast of St Peter ad Vincula it was found That a certain large piece of Waste called Overmarsh was in ancient times ordained for strangers of what country soever and assigned to such as came to the peace of the Earl of Chester or to his aid resorting there to form dwellings but without building any fixed houses by the means of nails or pins save only booths and tents to live in.

In in the reign of Edward III:


 * The jury declare upon their oaths that the Moor which is called Rudheath was formerly a waste place very anciently assigned and set apart by some of the old Earls of Chester for the reception not of their own subjects but of all fugitive strangers coming to the aid of the Earl's peace either from England or from any other countries And there is an inquisition of the same tenor relative to the other of Hoole Heath.

Earl Hugh is also supposed to be the origin of a rule that during fairs held in the city no felon could be arrested except for crimes committed at the fair. The beginning and end of the fairs was therefore indicated by the suspension and removal of a glove on the south side of St Peter's church (see Gloverstone).

Some later visitors to Hoole were hardly more complementary, as can be seen from the following two reviews:


 * Chester Beer Project: The Beehive (now shut);
 * Chester Beer Project: The Flookersbrook (now changed hands);];

Hoole and the Civil War


Hemingway writes how Flookersbrook Hall was burned down on Sunday, November 12th, 1643 by the Royalist garrison of Chester:


 * "The day following Mr Whitby's mansion, Bache hall and Flookersbrook hall - Sir Thomas Smith's - were also burnt down lest they might afford lodgements to enemies from another quarter."



During the Battle of Rowton Moor, 24 September 1645, at Hoole Heath, Charles Gerard was attacked by about half of the units of the besieging Parliamentarian army under Colonel Lothian. Thus engaged, Gerard was unable either to attack Michael Jones or support Marmaduke Langdale at Rowton Moor. The Royalist troops heading towards Chester to rejoin with the King later ran into the ongoing fight between Charles Gerard and Lothian at Hoole and even more troops were sent out from Chester to assist. In the confused fighting which followed "as much dispersed as the greatest rout could produce...", Lord Bernard Stewart was killed. It was this last stage of the battle that King Charles watched from the Phoenix Tower.

Hoole Hall
Early documentation states that Hoole Hall was first occupied by John de Hoole, the Lord of Hoole. Further documentation suggests that Rev Sir William Bunbury purchased the hall in the 14th Century and the family owned it for the next 400 years. During the English Civil War (1642-1647) the hall was burnt to the ground by parliamentarian troops as they advanced upon Chester.

The present Hoole Hall was built c.1760 for Rev.John Baldwin with extension and some alterations for the Hamilton family. His son Thomas Baldwin (1742-1804, or "Baldwyn"), a clergyman, tried, in 1783 after resigning from his position as a Huntingdon curate, to fund the construction of a balloon by subscription, but was unable to raise enough money. A display of Thomas' exploits, which included his design for a "grand naval air balloon" from 1784, is still found at Hoole Hall.

Baldwin's luck was to change when Vincenzo Lunardi, the dare-devil Italian balloonist, visited Chester in 1785. On Friday, 2nd September the Chester Chronicle reported:


 * "Mr Lunardi presents his respectful complements to the public with thanks for the favours that he has already received and begs leave to inform them that he has resigned his place in his balloon to T.B. esq a Gentleman of Chester"

"T.B." was Thomas Baldwin. However his flight came about, Baldwin then wrote a highly detailed and lengthy account of the voyage, with the impressive title: Airopaidia: Containing the Narrative of a Balloon Excursion from Chester, the Eighth of September, 1785, taken from Minutes made during the Voyage: Hints on the Improvement of Balloons, and Mode of Inflation by Steam: Means to Prevent their Descent over Water: Occasional Enquiries into the State of the Atmosphere, etc. The Whole Serving as an Introduction to Aerial Navigation: with a Copious Index. Baldwin wrote:


 * "On Thursday the 8th of September 1785, at 9 in the Morning was first fired one of the Cannons (a six-pounder) from the Castle-yard to inform the City and Neighbourhood that the necessary Preparations were making to inflate the Balloon."

He started with the release of a smaller balloon of his own as a sounding device, making it quite clear that he had almost beaten the French to it with his own earlier work:




 * "At 10 o'Clock the process began with the inflation of an airistatic Globe eighteen feet in Circumference of Silk Tiffany made the latter End of the Year 1783 and decorated with Painting, Mottoes and Devices: in the Performance of which little Work, Mr Baldwin was the Sole Projector, Architect, Workman and Chymyst .. It was intended to serve as a sort of Pioneer, to delineate the Track of the Great Balloon. It fell at some Miles Distant, tis said unfortunately on a Hedge and was presently torn to Pieces by the Eagerness and Avarice of the Pursuers who expected and undeservedly obtained the Reward promised in the letter appended to it."

Further details of Baldwin's exploits can be found on the page for Chester Castle. In the 19th Century, the Hoole Hall acquired a floating staircase and a spacious Conservatory, now grade II listed. During the 19th and 20th Centuryies the Hall saw many changes in residents and at some point during the 19th Century, one of them housed a family of monkeys in the Conservatory. The last family residing were the Holmes family who stayed until the British Army took over the property for Western Command in 1940. After the second world war the Hall was passed over to British Telecommunications for offices, which subsequently stood empty for many years. The complete site was sold at auction on 30th June 1982 to Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries who after nearly 2 years were granted planning permission to turn the grand hall into a Hotel, Bar and Bistro.

Hoole becomes respectable
Ashby place represents the rural housing that once stood in the area. Infill development of large detatched houses later took place around its edges. The 19thC Hoole Road became lined with early Victorian grand terraces and semi-detached houses.

Hemingway writing in 1831 describes it as follows (listing a lot of people he probably knew and hoped would buy his book!):


 * ..the lovely hamlet of Flookersbrook abounding with neatly built modern dwellings to which if the epithet of splendid be inappropriate the claim of elegance and comfort is justly due to each of which is appended richly cultivated garden ground. Here are the comfortable residences of Major Cotton the Rev John Thorpe, Mr John Williamson, Mr Cross, Mr Lightfoot, Mr T Walker, Alderman Broater, Mr Humble &c &c. It is hardly possible to pass this approach to the city without being reminded of the villas in the neighbourhood of the metropolis - the width of the road the respectable and good looking tavern called the Ermine - the pool of water in front of an excellent footpath on the north side of the road over hung with willow trees and the clean and rural appearance of the neighbouring cottages all all have ever contributed to fix an impression upon my mind such as I have just stated.

Samuel Lewis in 1848 described it as follows:


 * "HOOLE, a township, in the parish of Plemonstall, union of Great Boughton, Lower division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester, 2½ miles (N. E.) from Chester; containing 294 inhabitants. It comprises 745 acres, of a sandy soil. The tithes have been commuted for £80 payable to the rector, and £22 to the Marquess of Westminster. Various plots of land here, belonging to the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, of Hoole Lodge, and others, have been laid out for building purposes, such as the erection of villas, &c., by Mr. Rampling, architect, of Liverpool; and some of the plots have been sold at the rate of 5s. the square yard, or £1210 per acre; while, before the introduction of railways, the price was not more than about £150 an acre."

By 1870, Hoole had grown somewhat and John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hoole thus:


 * "HOOLE, a village and a township in Plemonstall parish, Cheshire. The village stands near the Chester and Manchester railway, 2¼ miles NNE of Chester; and has a constabulary office, a lecture hall and reading room, and a national school.-The township comprises 743 acres. Real property, £6, 144. Pop. in 1851, 427; in 1861, 1, 596. Houses, 314. The increase of pop. was caused by proximity to Chester r. station. The landowners are the Earl of Shrewsbury, W. Brittain, Esq., and Mrs. Hamilton. Hoole Heath was allotted to the chiefs from Wales and elsewhere who went to Hugh Lupus' standard. A church was built in 1868."

In 1873, a new Chester Union Workhouse was erected at Hoole at a cost of about £30,000. The design for the buildings was opened to competition and the winning plans were submitted by W Perkin and Sons. The new workhouse had a large T-shaped main building facing to the east, with a separate infirmary to its west and a school to the south. After the opening of the new workhouse, the old Roodee workhouse site was used as a confectinary works by the Cheshire Preserving Company. The Roodee Workhouse building was demolished in the early 1900s. Following the opening of the new general wing at the West Cheshire Hospital in January 1983, the City Hospital, which the Hoole Workhouse had then become, ceased to be a general hospital, and specialised in geriatric cases. The hospital closed in 1991 when it was demolished. The pillars which supported the gates to the entrance drive to the Workhouse remain today, as does the Chapel of St James the Less.

In 1917 Leonard Cheshire was born in Hoole Road (in the building which is now the "BaBa" Hotel). Cheshire did not take part in the "Dam Busters" raid but took over command of 617 "Dam Busters" squadron later in the war, and was the official British observer of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki flying in the support B-29 "Big Stink". He is one of the few people awarded a VC not for a single incident but due to cumulative action throughout the war. Cheshire dedicated the rest of his life to supporting disabled people, combining this with lecturing on conflict resolution. In 1948, he founded The Cheshire Foundation Homes for the Sick, which, in 1976, became the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, now styled Leonard Cheshire, which continues his work to support disabled people globally. On 5 April 1959, in Bombay's Catholic Cathedral, he married Sue Ryder, also the founder of a charity. Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters once described Cheshire as "the only true Christian I've ever met."



Modern Hoole
On 24th October 1996, one of Chester's worst fires ever engulfed Pickford's storage warehouse and led to the destruction of much of Lightfoot Street. Pickford's was never rebuilt after the Lightfoot Street Fire and the site is presently occupied by a development of flats named Thomas Brassey Close after the railway engineer. On 2nd December 2010. The Chester Enterprise Center burned down in the second Lightfoot Street Fire. The cause of the fire was evidently a heater left on overnight. Lightfoot Street is named after John Lightfoot (licensee of the Ermine, Flookersbrook, from 1818 to 1820). He died leaving everything to his son, but was not aware that his son had pre-deceased him by a few days. The consequent litigation dragged on for years, complicated by the fact that Lightfoot had sold land on which much of Flookersbrook had been built. When the matter was finally settled, many years later, the original deeds of the houses in Halkyn Road and nearby record a huge number of signatures to put the matter to bed.

On 17 July 2009 sixteen flats on Hoole Lane were destroyed following an explosion on the first floor. More than thirty firefighters tackled the resulting fire at the two-storey building in Wharton Court.



Sources and Links

 * "A virtual Stroll" on Hoole - a very extensive site with much history and many photographs;
 * Hoole Local History Society on Victorian Hoole;
 * Hoole on Wikipedia;
 * Hoole on Genuki;
 * Streetlife.com provides a local "chat" facility for Hoole residents;
 * Hoole on "openstreetmap";
 * Daily satellite image (NB sometimes it is cloudy!);
 * All the other maps of Hoole you might ever want;
 * Old images of Hoole;
 * HooleRoundabout local magazine;