Gowy



The Gowy and the Weaver rise in almost the same field at Peckforton. The head of the Gowy is about sixteen miles from where it empties into the Mersey estuary as the crow flies, but the wandering of the river adds at least nine more miles to that: it used to wander even more before many of its meanderings were straighened out. Surprisingly, this short and often insignificant looking river has powered twentry five or more water-mills.

Early maps and descriptions give a seemingly improbable course for the Gowy, with the river splitting in two at least twice with branches emptying into the River Dee via Aldford Brook and Backford Gap. Ormerod cites a very peculiar version of the course of the Gowy, with it actually dividing the Wirral from the rest of Cheshire by flowing into both the Dee (as Flookersbrook) and the Mersey:


 * "That, therefore, which they call the Gowy, hath his head not far from Bunbury, and runneth north-west by Beeston Castle, to Teerton and Huxley, where it divideth itself into two parts ; one goeth west to Tattenhall, Gosburn, Lea Hall, and at Aldford falleth into the Dee. The other part goeth northwards to Stapleford, Hocknel-plat, and Barrow (where it taketh in a brook that Cometh from Tarporley and Tarvin), and so passeth to Plemstow-bridge, Trafford, Picton, and Thornton, where it divideth itself again into two parts; one of which keepeth its course north-west to Stanley, Stanney, and Poole, and afterwards falleth into the Marsey. The other part goeth south-west to Stoke, Croughton, Chorlton, the Baits, and so falleth into the Dee, hard by Chester, being there called Flooker's-brook, and divideth Wirral from the rest of Cheshire; and therefore some imagine that it is called Wirral."

This supposed course of the river is used to define parts of the bounary of the Broxton Hundred. However, it may well be that significant parts of the river were diverted at various times and in various places, particularly to power water-mills, or to prevent or reduce flooding.

The Source


The official source of the Gowy is near grid-reference SJ539563. From Peckforton Moss the stream flows northwards through the hamlet of Peckforton, where the first mill down from the source of the river Gowy was located. Only scant signs of the millpond remain, but surprisingly the remains of the mill can be stumbled upon. Even the millstones have been located due to the work of landscape geographer David Keogh. Inscriptions on some of the surviving stonework appears to give a date of 1698, although it is unclear whether that is meant as a date of building or later graffiti.

The river has only fallen a few feet to reach this point and so the fact that it has the strength to power a mill is remarkable. The river already has less than 300 feet to fall before it reaches the tidal waters of the Mersey. In 1901 a local farmer found a neolithic stone hammer near here. The hammer was made of Cumberland granite and must have been either traded 5-6k years ago or made locally from a glacial "erratic". Peckforton appears in the Domesday survey of 1086, when it was held by Wulfric (possibly Wulfric Spot). The survey lists land for two ploughs. Peckforton fell in the ancient parish of Bunbury in the Eddisbury Hundred.



Near the head of the river Gowy, a red sandstone carving depicting an elephant bearing a castle as a howdah stands in the garden of Laundry Cottage on Stone House Lane in Peckforton village. It dates from around 1859 and is listed at grade II. It was carved by John or William Watson, a local stonemason then working on Peckforton Castle who also carved stone lions now at Spurstow and Tattenhall. The elephant and the castle are each carved from a single piece of stone, which derives from the same quarry as Peckforton Castle. The elephant has a tasselled saddle, supporting the castle which has three tiers, with a turreted gatehouse and a keep with turrets at the corner. Some of the castle windows are glazed. The original purpose of the carving is unclear. The device formed part of the crest of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers and is often associated with public houses, but there has never been a pub called The Elephant and the Castle in Peckforton. An elephant also appears in the arms of the Corbett family, local landowners before 1626. According to one source, the carving was originally intended as a beehive, although there is no evidence it has ever been used as one. The elephant is one of several listed structures in Peckforton.



Peckforton Castle was built between 1844 and 1850 for John Tollemache, the largest landowner in Cheshire at the time, owning 28,651 acres (115.95 km2). His estate exceeded those of the Duke of Westminster who owned 15,138 acres (61.26 km2), Lord Crewe with 10,148 acres (41.07 km2) and Lord Cholmondeley with 16,992 acres (68.76 km2). He was described by William Ewart Gladstone as "the greatest estate manager of his day". Tollemache's first choice of architect was George Latham of Nantwich, but he was not appointed, and was paid £2,000 in compensation. Instead Tollemache appointed Anthony Salvin, who had a greater reputation and more experience, and who had already carried out work on the Tollemache manor house, Helmingham Hall in Suffolk. The castle was built by Dean and Son of Leftwich, with Joseph Cookson of Tarporley acting as clerk of works. Stone was obtained from a quarry about 1 mile (2 km) to the west of the site, and a railway was built to carry the stone. The castle cost £60,000.

Even at it's very source the waters of the river Gowy are robbed away by man. The headwaters actually seep down from Bulkeley Hill, where the remains of a tramway used in the construction of the Bulkeley Hill reservoir and water main, including a massive anti-surge valve at the top of the tramway can still be seen. There are foundations for a haulage angine at the top of the line, and a crossing point half-way. The climb up the track is approximately 105 metres of ascent. The tramway is on the route of the water-main supplying the water to the Potteries. This is actually a far more modern structure than might be thought. It was only in 1937 that the Staffordshire Potteries Water Board gained authority for the erection of pumping stations at Peckforton and Tower Wood in Cheshire, with a reservoir on Bulkeley Hill, whence the water would gravitate to a large storage reservoir at Cooper’s Green near Audley, for distribution to Tunstall and the Potteries. Most of these enterprises were held up by the Second World War and it wasn't until 1953 that the Peckforton scheme and its linking aqueduct to Audley had been completed. There are two boreholes where water is pumped from the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer which is near to the surface: Close to the Coppermine Inn (three pumping stations) and at Peckforton Gap. There is a holding reservoir at the Gap, from where water is pumped up 110 metres to a covered reservoir on Bulkeley Hill at 210 metres above sea level. From there a 27 inch steel pipe feeds the water under gravity to the reservoir at Cooper’s Green, Audley, 140 metres above sea level. While the sandstone under the Cheshire plain contains a vast aquifier the level has been affected to the point where the deep well at Beeston Castle is now dry and the springs and seepages which feed the Gowy are no-doubt much diminished.

These upper sections of the river Gowy appear to have either been shifted in their course several times or some of the early mapping is innaccurate, and drainage ditches may have been mistaken for the course of the river. In places the river even appears to dissappear beneath the ground. Some modern maps even label the river Gowy as the stream which flows from Spurstow Hall, through Woodworth Green, towards the canal at Calveley and only joins the true Gowy at Tilstone.

The false "Image House"
This has been a source of some confusion. Roughly opposite the marshy remains of Peckforton Mere and the now drained ground which was Ridley Pool was a cottage provided with stone faces. This is not the noted "image house", although it has been confused with it in some guidebooks. Coward mentions the confusion in his "Cheshire Traditions and History".

By Stone House Lane stands the ancient Peckforton Oak on its grassy knoll. Known locally as the ‘Big Oak’, this huge tree was already old when John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, preached beneath its branches in October 1749. The tree later survived the freak ‘Peckforton Cyclone’, a tornado which occurred on the evening of 27th October 1913, with the loss of a limbs. According to a contemporary eyewitness, "a dark column of spinning air approached from the south, accompanied by thunder, lightning and torrential rain". During "four violent hours", Castlegate Farm, below Beeston Castle, lost its roof, hundreds of mature trees were uprooted, several cattle were hurled over a hedge: three of the cattle were killed, and a local man was hurled sixty metres into his neighbour’s orchard. As reported at the time:


 * "The storm in Cheshire destroyed Lord Tollemache's extensive greenhouses at Peckforton Castle, while on the hill opposite hundreds of trees were uprooted. “According to most accounts the storm lasted two or three minutes only.”

In fact, the "storm" lasted for at least five hours, but moved quickly. The storm responsible was first noted in South Devon at 1600 on Monday 27 October 1913 and it tracked more or less NNE, as far north as Cheshire where it passed Runcorn at approximately 2100, heading into Lancashire. Six people were killed in South Wales. The storm tracked along its course leaving scores injured and much property damaged. The windspeed was not recorded, as no weather stations in the affected area seem to have had an anemometer and estimates of its strength are thus based on damage done. Changes in air pressure, however, were recorded in several places. They revealed a sudden fall followed by a return to the previous pressure after an interval of fifteen to thirty minutes. The Albion Steam Coal Colliery, at Cilfynydd, was situated within a few metres of the western edge of the tornado track and a drop in pressure from 29.20 to 28.91 inches (988.8 to 979.0 millibars), was recorded. It was followed by an almost immediate rise.

Mr. H. Billet of the Meteorological Office, at the request of the M.P. for East Glamorganshire, Clement Edwards, was sent to the region visited by the storm and spent three days in South Wales collecting information. His report was published in September 1914 as a Geophysical Memoir. The Met office investigators stated:


 * "This fall of 0.3 inch, or 1/100 of the normal atmospheric pressure of 15lbs to the square inch, means a sudden change in the atmospheric pressure of 0.15 lb per square inch, or about 20 lbs per square foot. Such a change of pressure, if applied suddenly to the outside of a closed building, must produce an effect similar to an explosion within, and it is thus easy to understand how windows or even whole walls are blown outwards, as at the generating station at Treforest".

Actually, to shatter buildings in this way the peak overpressure might have been as high as 3 psi, with wind speeds possibly over 102mph. The Met Office investigation concluded with these points:


 * ". . . a genuine tornado of the type common enough in parts of America . . . The straight track with clean cut lateral limits, the violent electrical phenomena, the heavy rainfall, the roaring noise, the sudden decrease of barometric pressure, resulting in the blowing out of walls of buildings, as if by explosion from within, are all features which are common in descriptions of American tornadoes. The width of the track, three hundred yards and the rate of advance, 36 miles per hour, are of the same magnitude as in American tornadoes".

Peckforton Mere


The mere used to be much larger during the prehistoric period and the promontory to the east of it which houses the fort would have jutted out into it. The River Gowy originally flowed out of the mere on the north side and this formed the northern defence of the fort. The present stream course lies further north than the original river and has been diverted by recent drainage operations. The fort has a bank and external ditch cutting off a piece of high ground which used to be a promontory and curving around it on the north and south sides, leaving the west side open to be defended in antiquity by the mere and the old course of the Gowy. The original bank and ditch are only partially visible as upstanding earthworks and can only be made out on the LIDAR with some difficulty, although the shape of the promontory is fairly clear. The fort, thought to be iron age, survives reasonably well in spite of the ploughing which has reduced some of its defences. It is small compared to a very similar site at Oakmere in Cheshire. The enclosed area is enough to support a collection of buildings for a single family settlement rather than a larger farming village.


 * Geograph;

Beeston
Pits dating from the 4th millennium BC indicate the site of Beeston Castle was inhabited or used as a communal gathering place during the Neolithic period. Archaeologists have discovered Neolithic flint arrow heads on the crag, as well as the remains of a Bronze Age community, and of an Iron Age hill fort. The rampart associated with the Bronze Age activity on the crag has been dated to around 1270–830 BC; seven circular buildings were identified as being either late Bronze Age or early Iron Age in origin. It may have been a specialist metalworking site.

There are many legends surrounding Beeston Castle. Local legend holds that Richard II hid his extensive Royal Treasure hereabouts before sailing to Ireland to quell an uprising in 1399. Richard never reclaimed his treasure as he was captured, upon his return, at Flint by Henry Bollingbrooke (Duke of Lancaster, and later Henry IV) and imprisoned at Chester Castle for a while in 1399. Many attempts have been made to find the "treasure" over the years and none of them have been successful. Stories have suggested that there are "secret" passageways leading from the well to a nearby farmhouse, a possible escape or re-supply route if the castle was under siege. Local legends place the treasure at the foot of the castle well (said to be around 365 feet deep - an impressive feat of mediaeval engineering) or in passages running off the well. Other tales tell of "demons" guarding the treasure in the well, the sight of which would instantly drive the beholder mad or strike them dumb. However the well has been explored by camera and neither demons nor treasure were encountered.

The "real" Image House
The Image House is at the corner of the A49 and Betty's lane. This features in "The Shiny Night" by Beatrice Tunstall. The story, supposedly based on one of the very few real events of witchcraft in Cheshire, is about a young poacher named Seth Shone who in some versions kills a gamekeeper, is transported to Botany Bay for eight years (or in some versions seven years), returns to "Clock Abbot", as Bunbury is called in the book, and sets about getting his revenge on his enemies. These enemies are some combination of the local squire, his gamekeeper, several of his men or the local constable depending on the version. He makes images of them, names them and curses them violently, and places these "Voodoo dolls" on the walls of his house for all to see. The house still has a porch supported on carved oak posts with sandstone heads as caps and stone carved male figures, wearing hats, which flank the first floor windows. Beatrice Tunstall, author of The Shiny Night (1931), The Long Day Closes (1934) and The Dark Lady (1939) had her home on the walls of Chester near the Northgate.

Bunbury
Archaeology suggests almost continuous occupation of the site since very early times. Bunbury was reputedly derived from Buna-burh, meaning the "redoubt of Buna". Just prior to 1066 it was held by a certain Dedol of Tiverton. It was listed as Boleberie in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and the lord of the fief was Robert FitzHugh. A Norman family later acquired the surname of De Boneberi, and were linked to Rake Hall during and after the reign of King Stephen. They were allegedly a cadet line of the Norman family of De St Pierre, associated with Hugh "Lupus" Earl of Chester. Much later, in the era of the English Civil War and on the date of 23 December 1642 some of the prominent gentlemen of Cheshire met in Bunbury and drew up the Bunbury Agreement. The terms of the agreement were intended to keep Cheshire neutral during the English Civil War. It proved to be a forlorn hope because the national strategic importance of Cheshire and the city port of Chester meant that national interests overruled local ones.



Hugh Calveley
Sir Hugh Calveley - whose tomb (one of the best of its time) is here although he may not be, was born the youngest son of David de Calveley of Lea, and his wife, Joanna. The family held the manor of Calveley in Bunbury. Estimates of the year of his birth range from 1315 to 1333. It is possible that he was a close relative, maybe even a half-brother, of Sir Robert Knollys. Along with many other Englishmen, the young Hugh Calveley served in Brittany, supporting Jean de Montfort's English-backed bid to become Duke of Brittany against the French-backed claimant, Charles de Blois, during the Breton War of Succession. An anonymous Breton poet's account of the Combat of the Thirty in 1351 has "Hue de Caverle" as a knight fighting on the English side (where he was defeated, captured, to be ransomed later). One estimate of the date of his knighthood is 1346, though documents from 1354 do not refer to him as a knight, and there is some evidence that he was only knighted later, in 1361. In 1359 Sir Robert Knolles and Calveley invaded the Rhône Valley. The city of Le Puy fell to them in July. The campaign ended when their way to Avignon was barred by the army of Thomas de la Marche, Deputy for Louis II, Duke of Bourbon, at which point both English commanders retreated. At the Battle of Auray on 29 September 1364, Calveley had the command of the reserve division of the forces of Jean de Montfort, under the command of Sir John Chandos. Charles de Blois was killed at Auray, enabling Jean de Montfort to claim the Duchy without further conflict.

After the conclusion of the Breton civil war, Calveley, along with many other soldiers, found himself unemployed. These soldiers, banding together in the "Free Companies" (i.e. mercenaries), continued to support themselves by raiding widely, causing a huge problem for the Kingdom of France. The solution to the problem was found when Aragon, France and the Papacy agreed to provide money to pay for the Free Companies to wage a campaign to support Count Enrique of Trastamara's bid for the throne of Castile, which at the time was held by Enrique's half-brother, Pedro of Castile. Calveley signed up as the most prominent of the English captains on this campaign, in which he was involved from 1365 to 1367. When hostilities resumed between England and France in 1369, Calveley was once again involved, first in raiding the possessions of Gascon nobles who had defected to the French. He took part in at least three further campaigns in the period to 1374; notably, he was one of the joint commanders of the English army disastrously defeated by Bertrand du Guesclin at the Battle of Pontvallain, 4 December 1370, though he managed to escape. From 1375 to 1378, Calveley was governor of Calais, an important port. Thereafter, he became one of the two Admirals of the English fleet, taking part in several sea battles. In July 1379, he was involved in a raid on Brittany led by Sir John Arundel, Marshal of England. On their return voyage, 20 ships and about 1000 men were lost at sea in a storm. Calveley was one of only 8 survivors.

There is no clear evidence for or against Calveley being buried at Bunbury, and the tomb may be merely a cenotaph erected by his campaign companion (and probably close relative), Sir Robert Knollys. In an attempt to clarify this uncertainty the tomb was opened on 25 April 1848, and according to Jno.Fenna, Churchwarden:


 * "I found the fragments of an oak coffin, apparently of uncommon size, almost crumbled to dust; the handles of the sides being iron were nearly entire. By the side of his coffin lay a lead coffin quite fresh, with the initials D.M.C. which I suppose to be that of Dame Mary Calveley. I measured some of the bones, which I have no doubt were Sir Hugh's, from their extraordinary size, . . the thigh-bone, was two inches or more larger than the average size of men. He is supposed to have measured seven feet six inches in height when he lived. There is a mark on the wall in Bunbury Church [probably lost in the 1865 restoration] which old people say was the memorandum of his height."

Despite the above statement, later historians consider the bones


 * “were quite clearly those of Dame Mary Calveley (ob.1705) and her husband, another Sir Hugh Calveley (ob.1648).”

This later Mary Calveley built Bridge House in Lower Bridge Street, Chester after the death of her husband left her a young and very wealthy widow.


 * details on the tomb;

Edward Burghall
Perhaps one of the most interesting facts about Beeston relates to the diary of Edward Burghall, then the Puritan schoolmaster of Bunbury who supposedly records the fate of the unfortunate Captain Steel of Beeston Castle in 1643/4 which had always been taken as a primary source. However when James Hall was preparing his "History of Nantwich" he discovered that parts of the supposed "diary" are a virtual copy of the diary of Thomas Malbon of Nantwich (actually written in 1651) and Edward Burghall (who died in poverty in 1665) is essentially a forger as regards parts of his supposed diary. See Hall's Memorials of the Civil War for a comparison between the two works. Edward Burghall's memorial is Bunbury's St. Boniface Church (built 1386), whereupon he is decribed as a "Paineful Schoole Mr".

George Beeston - Elizabethan Sea-Captain
The manor of Beeston, but not the castle, was owned by the de Bunburys, who later took the name Beeston. Sir George Beeston (1500-1801, who has a memorial in St Boniface's Church, Bunbury) was, again acccording to local legend, commander (at the age of 89 if Ormerod is to be believd) of the Dreadnought at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588. In fact, Sir George Beeston was only born in 1520, although he did command the Dreadnought. In February 1588, at Queenborough, he commanded the four ‘great ships’ that were to sail with Charles Howard, 2nd Lord Howard of Effingham, and after the Armada battle he was knighted by Howard on board the Ark Royal. The latin inscription on his tomb may be translated as:


 * "Here lies buried George Beeston, knight, a promoter of valour and truth; having been brought up from his youth in the arts of war he was chosen one of his company of pensioners by the invincible King Henry the Eighth, when he besieged Boulogne [1544]; he merited [the same] under Edward the Sixth in the battle against the Scots at Musselburgh [1547]. Afterwards under the same King, under Mary, and under Elizabeth, in the naval engagements as captain or vice-captain of the fleet, by whom, after that most mighty Spanish fleet of 1588, had been vanquished, he was honoured with the order of knighthood; and now, his years pressing heavily on him, when he had admirably approved his integrity to princes, and his bravery to his adversaries, acceptable to God, and dear to good men, and long expecting Christ, in the year 1601 and in the ... of his age, he fell asleep in Him, so that he may rise again in Him with joy. And together with him rests a most beloved wife, Alice, daughter of [Thomas] Davenport of Henbury, esquire, a matron most holy, chaste, and liberal to the poor, who, when she had lived in matrimony 66 years, and had borne to her husband three sons, John, Hugh, and Hugh, and as many daughters, Ann, Jane, and Dorothy, passed into the heavenly country in the year 1591 and in the [refer below] year of her age, with Christ for ever to live. The dutifulness of their son Hugh Beeston, esquire, the younger, Receiver General of all the revenues of the Crown as well as in the county palatine of Chester as in the counties of North Wales, set up this monument to parents most excellent and beloved."

Bunbury Mill
The mill has quite an interesting history, because it is said that there has been a corn mill on the site as far back as 1290. Bunbury is the only mill on the Gowy which is an overshot mill, as it it the only place where the gradient is steep enough. The other mills are less powerful undershot mills. The present building dates from about 1844, when an earlier mill was destroyed by fire. It was initially used to produce flour and animal feed. Bad flooding occurred in 1960, when there was a violent storm, which amongst other things, uprooted trees close to the mill and blocked the weir gate. The miller, Tom Parker, whose name still appears on the outside of the building, was unable to free the tree, and the build-up of water eventually burst the millpond wall, flooding the mill and wrecking the machinery. This forced the mill to close, as renovations would have been far too costly, and the products were no longer in high demand.

Nantwich Rural District Council bought the site to use it for water treatment. It was supposed to be destroyed 6 years later, but the locals gathered to protest, as they wanted the mill to be repaired, not only for reasons of heritage, but also to create more jobs in the area. By 1977, Bunbury Mill was back up and running. But this time it was owned by North West Water Authority, part of United Utilities, which is the organization that first turned it into a museum and education centre. The mill closed once again in 2010, but volunteers were kind enough to keep an eye on the machinery, and make sure everything was in working order. The Bunbury Watermill Trust was then established, and in April 2012 the mill was given to the Trust, reopening it to visitors. The group Friends of Bunbury Mill has been established to support the work of the trustees. Tours of the working mill are available. The site includes the mill pond, a wildlife pool and 2 acres of grounds. Facilities include a picnic area and a visitor centre with a café and public toilets. There are many other listed buildings in Bunbury.


 * Geograph;

Tilstone Bank
At Tilstone Bank the Gowy meets up with the Chester Canal and the railway, which both make use of the River Gowy valley to cross through what is effectively a gap in the sandstone ridge of central Cheshire. This is the gap which Beeston Castle defends.

The settlement of Tilstone was an important crossing point of the River Gowy and Chester Canal. The lower part of the village owes its development to the mill which was located here and canal activities. There was once an extensive mill-pond between the railway and the canal. This pond was fed both by the Gowy and by a brook at its eastern end. The mill has been converted into a house. The lengthsman’s huts at Tilstone and Stone Locks, together with another at Tarvin Road Lock, are unique to the Chester Canal. The one at Tilstone Lock has been restored by volunteers working with CRT Heritage staff. Tilstone Lock still has the metal guard rails to protect the side of the lock from rope wear. There are attractive sweeping by-washes at all of the locks on this section.

Between Beeston and Bunbury, on a bend of the busy A49, is an impressive black and white building of the traditional Cheshire style. This is the Wild Boar Hotel, which used to be the Wild Boar restaurant and pub/grill room. In the past it has been known as Beeston Towers and was a girls' school. The original part of the building is mock Tudor, built 1886, with extensions added later. The house was built as a residence by John Naylor, born in Grappenhall, Cheshire in 1844. His father was John Naylor, a coal and slate dealer in Warrington and his mother was Ellen Naylor. He was the eldest of four children. His only brother was Robert Naylor who was three years younger. John worked for some years as a merchant and in 1871 he and his brother Robert decided to undertake a walk of about 1300 miles from the top to the bottom of the United Kingdom. They completed the distance in nine weeks. In 1916 some years after his brother’s death John Naylor wrote a book "From John O'Groats to Land's End" detailing the journey. In the introduction Naylor writes:

John Naylor died in 1923 and the house was put on the market.
 * "It was a big undertaking, especially as we had resolved not to journey by the shortest route, but to walk from one great object of interest to another, and to see and learn as much as possible of the country we passed through on our way. We were to walk the whole of the distance between the north-eastern extremity of Scotland and the south-western extremity of England, and not to cross a ferry or accept or take a ride in any kind of conveyance whatever. We were also to abstain from all intoxicating drink, not to smoke cigars or tobacco, and to walk so that at the end of the journey we should have maintained an average of twenty-five miles per day"

Beeston Brook
Beeston Iron Lock was constructed in 1828. Flanged cast iron plates were bolted together to form the walls and floor, providing a novel solution to problems with 'running sand' under the original stone locks. It is a grade II* listed structure and a scheduled ancient monument, and is unique in England. When the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company was formed in 1813, both Beeston Locks were rebuilt. The canal was also realigned by the engineers, Thomas Telford and Thomas Denton. The iron lock was constructed in the same way as the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, using the riveted flanged iron plate method, pioneered by Telford and William Jessop.

Beeston Castle and Tarporley railway station was a railway station serving the villages of Tarporley, Tiverton, and Beeston in Cheshire, England. The station was originally part of the Crewe to Chester line of the Grand Junction Railway. The station opened on 1 October 1840 when it was simply known as Beeston but was renamed Beeston Castle on 1 October 1868, and again Beeston Castle and Tarporley in January 1873. The station was closed on 18 April 1966. Beeston Hall was just to the south of the station Sir George Beeston lived at this ancestral home Little, if any, of the Beeston Hall known to Sir George now survives. It was moated, and was destroyed in the Civil War, being fired on by the soldiers of Prince Rupert. On 19 March 1645 the Prince dined with the lady of the house, and after dinner, told her he was sorry to make so bad a return to her hospitality and advised her to secure her valuables, as he had to order the house to be burned that night to prevent it being garrisoned by the enemy.

There were at least ten fuel tanks, measuring appox 80 ft diameter and 10 ft deep, sunk into the hill overlooking the canal and the Gowy, and presumably served by the adjacent railway. They are said to have been constructed as part of the WW2 PLUTO (PipeLine Under The Ocean) system. Beeston Reclamation Yard is a large yard containing items of architectural salvage for sale, overlooked by a former L&NWR signalbox. One of the buildings, at the base of the "PLUTO Tanks" hill, was evidently a fuel pumping station. Its walls are lined with white tiles, and the wall backing on to the hillside, is pierced by steel pipes.

Horton's Mill
Bate's Corn Mill otherwise known as Horton's Mill is at Bate's Mill Bridge, in Bate's Mill Lane and Tithe maps show a Peter Bate as the tenant. Nevertheless it was called Horton's Mill. The old mill was a trout farm for a while and now has its own generator powered by the water-wheel, visible below the road.

Highter Huxley Mill
Watermill: C17 or earlier origins, extended early C18, rewalled in brick C19. Washed brick and some timber-framing on ashlar red sandstone base. Welsh slate roof. East face shows setting for undershot wheel, with a small light above and to right a weatherboarded loft jettied out over the stream. South face of 2 storeys and 2 bays, with a small 2-light window and stable door under cambered brick head alongside. Some crude timber framing to the rear. Interior: Large spur wheel inscribed "1811 T Littler" drives 2 pairs of French stones upstairs. No other machinery but wooden framework and layout survive.

Lower Huxley


Close to Lower Huxley Hall, there was a flour mill, shown as disused on the 1910 OS map. The Tithe maps appear to have the actual mill dam in the ownership of a John Robinson, and show the existence of a large millpond, but which was probably done away with when the river was straightened in the 1940s. The tithe maps also show what appears to be a leat feeding the mill.

Lower Huxley Hall dates from the late 15th century, with major additions and alterations in the 17th century. Huxley was at one time held by the Canons of St Werburgh Abbey, Chester, from whom it passed to the Benedictine Order, although it is uncertain which of their monastries controlled it. A small addition was made to the rear in the 19th century. It was originally a courtyard house, but only two wings remain. The house is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The house was originally the seat of the Clive family. John Tilston inherited the property upon the death of his elder brother Henry in 1613. Their father Ralph Tilston had purchased half of the Huxley estate from a relative Ralph Huxley in 1580. During the English Civil War the house was taken over by Colonel Thomas Croxton and the Parliamentary forces on September 5, 1644 and served as a base for the Siege of Chester.

In 1659 Croxton was in command of Chester Castle when The Booth Rising took place. The rebels entered the town and called upon him to surrender. He is said to have replied


 * "that as perfidiousness in him was detestable, so the castle which he kept for the parliament of England was disputable, and if they would have it they must fight for it, for the best blood that ran in his veins in defence thereof should be as sluices to fill up the castle trenches."

He held out for about three weeks, when he was relieved by Lambert shortly after the battle at Northwich. The garrison was then in some distress for want of food. On 17 Sept. the House of Commons voted Croxton a reward for his services. He continued irreconcilable to royalism after the Restoration, and in 1663 was arrested and secured in Chester Castle on a charge of plotting a general rebellion. He probably soon died there.

In 1810 Lower Huxley was described as being a farmhouse, and was still so in 1935. It is now a private residence.

Walk Mill


The Doomsday Book, records a mill at or near the site of the Walk Mill. In 1219 a mill at Stapleford was leased to Madoc, son of Wicker Seis by William son of Henry de Stapleford, with an annual rent of one pair of gloves. In 1802 Walk Mill was leased by Randle Wilbraham to John Dutton, farmer and Thomas Howell, miller for a rent of 15 guineas. Land included in the tenancy was 1 acre, 2 roods, 11 poles of arable land – on condition that within three years they erected a new water corn mill. The present incarnation of Walk Mill, was built after 2006. The previous mill was demolished in 1960 having possibly been built in 1805 (1881 OS Map) to replace one dating from the 1660s. The present owners found that a mill had been located here when ploughing uncovered a buried millstone. A date stone engraved “RW 1668” was also found which now sits above the fire place in the millers kitchen. At the time of the Tithe maps the mill was owned by the Wilbrahams but tennanted by a Robert Phoenix.

It is a working mill also open to the public. When grinding is to take place, a sluice gate is raised from the riverbed, thus diverting the water into the now short millrace, on to the 14-foot wheel and back to the river by the tailrace. The wheel and sluice gate are new constructions, but much of the internal machinery has been rescued from other mills in the country that have been converted to private houses. According to the 1910 OS map, the present course of the river past the mill was the original leat, with the river following a line to the east of its present course. The river line was altered in 1945 by Italian POWs and the old riverbed is now part of the strangely named “Waterless Brook”. This now takes the overflow of the river when it floods. From its name the original mill was most likely a fulling mill. From the medieval period, the fulling of cloth often was undertaken in a water mill, known as a fulling mill, a walk mill, or a tuck mill, and in Wales, a pandy. In these, the cloth was beaten with wooden hammers, known as fulling stocks or fulling hammers. Fulling stocks were of two kinds, falling stocks (operating vertically) that were used only for scouring, and driving or hanging stocks. In both cases the machinery was operated by cams on the shaft of a waterwheel or on a tappet wheel, which lifted the hammer. Driving stocks were pivoted so that the foot (the head of the hammer) struck the cloth almost horizontally. The stock had a tub holding the liquor and cloth. This was somewhat rounded on the side away from the hammer, so that the cloth gradually turned, ensuring that all parts of it were milled evenly. However, the cloth was taken out about every two hours to undo plaits and wrinkles. The 'foot' was approximately triangular in shape, with notches to assist the turning of the cloth.



In Roman times, fulling was conducted by slaves working the cloth with their feet while ankle deep in tubs of human urine. Urine was so important to the fulling business that it was taxed. Stale urine, known as wash, was a source of ammonium salts and assisted in cleansing and whitening the cloth. By the medieval period, fuller's earth had been introduced for use in the process. This is a soft clay-like material occurring naturally as an impure hydrous aluminium silicate. It was used in conjunction with wash. More recently, soap has been used. The second function of fulling was to thicken cloth by matting the fibres together to give it strength and increase waterproofing (felting). This was vital in the case of woollens, made from carding wool, but not for worsted materials made from combing wool. After this stage, water was used to rinse out the foul-smelling liquor used during cleansing. Felting of wool occurs upon hammering or other mechanical agitation because the microscopic barbs on the surface of wool fibres hook together

Just upstream of the mill is the moated site of Foulk Stapleford manor which was created out of a 12th century division of the manor of Stapleford but the distinctive manorial name only became common usage after Fulk de Orby (Justice of Chester 1259-60) succeeded his father's holding in Stapleford in the mid 13th century. The site passed through various hands before ceasing to be in use as a residence by the early 16th century. The site is bounded on the east by the old course of the River Gowy and on the west by the modern course of the Gowy - originally the extended leat to Walk Mill. The site includes a grassy platform measuring some 47-50m each way and standing c.0.3m above the neighbouring ground surface. There is a low inner bank running around the perimeter of the island and faint traces of surface scarps. A dry moat 18-20m wide x 1.2m deep surrounds the island and this is flanked by an outer bank up to 10m wide x 0.2m max. height.

Stapleford Mill


Ceased work by WWI and the machinery was removed during WWII. The building was demolished c 1950. John Bruen the puritan iconoclast maintained the poor of his parish by the produce of two mills in Stapleford, of which this was one. Since the mill became disused the course of the Gowy has been changed so that is diverted to follow a portion of the course of Guylane Brook and hence no longer passes the site of the mill. The road which crosses the Gowy just south of the site of the mill at "Ford Bridge" is now known as Guy Lane and is probably derived from the name of the river which was once forded at this point. The Tithe maps and the older OS maps show how the course of the river has changed over the years, apparently moving back and forth between the leat of the mill and a course some way to the west. At the time of the Tithe maps the mill was owned by the Wilbrahams but apparently operated by Joseph Howell, recently deceased.

A prehistoric settlement of six roundhouses has been excavated near Brook House Farm. It was occupied from the Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age (approximately 1000 BC to 42 AD).

Hockenhull Platts


Clicking on the walking man icon will reveal how much the course of the river hereabouts was altered by the improvement works carried out by POW's in WW2. Although the Hockenhull bridges are in England, they are not far from the Welsh border and it is likely that their name is derived from a combination of English and Welsh roots. "Platt" is an Old English word for "bridge" and is associated with "plank". "Hock" may come from the Welsh "hocan" which means to peddle or to sell abroad. "Hen" is Welsh for "old" and "hoel" (as in Hoole) means a paved way or road. It is therefore possible that Hockenhull Platts means "the bridges on the old peddlars' way". In the alternative the bridges may be named after a local family, or the family after the bridges, ther are arguments all ways (the same is true of Platts).

In 1353 when Edward, the Black Prince, crossed the bridges, he ordered that 20 shillings should be spent on their repair. In the 17th century the surface of the road was disintegrating so badly that posts were set into the road to prevent the passage of carts, and it could be used only by pedestrians and horses. As noted above carts took a different route. Goods were carried by convoys of packhorses led by a driver (or jagger) walking in front. The pioneer female traveller Celia Fiennes crossed the bridges in 1698, as did Thomas Pennant in 1780. The present bridges probably date from the latter part of the 18th century. In 1824 Cheshire County Council proposed to divert the road from Nantwich to Chester and make it pass along Platts Lane, which would have led to the destruction of the bridges. However the land on which they stood belonged to the Marquess of Westminster, and he refused permission for the road to be diverted. Today (2020), Hockenhull Platts consists of three humpback bridges which are approached and connected by causeways. The bridges are constructed from tooled blocks of red sandstone. The parapets are plain and are surmounted by chamfered coping stones which are joined by iron ties. The carriageway is formed from a mixture of stone setts and cobbles.



At Duddon, the road passes the site of the "Headless Woman", a pub now gone. There are at least two different local legends about this. In the first the woman was called Dorothy and accidentally decapitated by her father while he was trying to save her from the Roundheads. In the other the woman is called Grace, and, during the Civil War, when the Parliamentarians were getting close, the Hockenhulls (a Royalist family) left Grace the maid in charge of their house and treasure. Despite torture, she refused to say where it was hidden and had her head taken off as a result: i.e. they chopped the head off the only person who could tell them where the treasure was. Of course, her ghost wanders round with her head in her hands, haunting the area to this very day. There used to be a headless woman figure standing in the pub car park many years ago: a ship's figurehead modified with a saw and some red paint. One day it disappeared - stolen. Now the pub has gone too, having been converted into residential use in 2018. There are a host of variants on the story some of which have Grace the maid haunting Hockenhull Platts rather than the pub.

Stamford Mill


Stamford Mill, just to the south of Stamford Bridge is now a private house, but in the 1836-51 tithe maps it was shown as a flourmill in the ownership of the Marquis of Westminster, tenanted by Joseph Rowe. Stamford Mill on the River Gowy is first recorded in a document of 1188. It was rebuilt in 1810 after being burnt down. The mill wheel and its associated machinery were removed around 1900 when the building was converted into a house, but the remains are still visible, as is the mill pond. These are best seen from across the river. Milton Brook which enters the Gowy to the north of Stamford Bridge also had a mill at Barrow and its course can be followed upstream to further mills at Tarvin and Duddon. Another branch of the Gowy, Barrow Brook, appears to have had mills at Swinfordmill and near Peel Hall at Ashton.

Plemstall
There are said to be records of a church at Plemstall as far back as the 7th century, when the Gowy used to flood the surrounding land and the locality (barely elevated) was known as the "Isle of Chester". A legend, perhaps of the 5th or 6th century, tells of a shipwrecked fisherman who, on finding refuge here, built a church as an act of thanksgiving, dedicating it to St Peter the fisherman. It is not clear how the suggestion of an early church and a "hermitage" fit together. Also, there is a weak suggestion in Asser that Plegmund was more than a hermit when before he was selected by Alfred: Asser says that Alfred summoned four distinguished Mercian clerics and showered them with honours and entitlements in Wessex, "not counting those which Archbishop Plegmund and Bishop Werferth already possessed in Mercia". It ia also worth noting that Gervase does not actually call Plehmund a "hermit", but writes that he "for many years led an ermetic life" - which could simply mean he led an austere life.



Although the surrounding land has been drained, the church still stands in an isolated location. Once called "Plegmundeshamm" (which may be translated as "Plegmund's hemmed-in place in water meadows"), later Plemondstall, it is now Plemstall. There are some few remains of a 12th century church, but the present sandstone building of St Peter is mainly 15th century. The tower was added in 1826, replacing a wooden belfry. Most of the original glass has gone, but there are said to be fragments from the 14th century (they may possibly be slightly later). In a display case in the north aisle are (or were) a Breeches Bible of 1608, a King James Bible of 1611, a folio edition of the bible printed by Edward Whitchurche in 1549, a black letter bible of 1549 and a King James Bible of 1623. The strikingly macabre 14th century tomb of the Hurleston family is located at the rear of St. Peter's church. One noted incumbent in the latter part of the 18th century, was the Rev John Baldwin of Hoole. His son Thomas Baldwin, who was also ordained, took part in a famous balloon flight in 1786. He took off from Chester Castle. Another noted incumbent was the Rev. Joseph Hooker Toogood (rector 1907-46). Pevsner records the war memorial was carved by Toogood and in fact the industrious Toogood was responsible for improvements to the chancel screen, a new altar, the reredos and panelling for the sanctuary, the lectern, much of the north chapel and baptistry, a new cover for the font, the choirstalls and their canopy, figures for the sanctuary niches and an alms box.

Trafford Mill
The earliest documentary reference to the Trafford Mill is in the Cheshire Chamberlains' Accounts of 1302–03. Further documentary records of the mill are in 1464 in the records of the Troutbeck family and in the Land Tax returns between 1784 and 1832. The building was offered for lease in an October 1767 edition of the Chester Chronicle. It was described in that advertisement in the form it is in now as 'this new built corn mill' thus dating the building at around 1760, nearly 100 years older than previously thought. It was sold at the Shrewsbury Sale of 1917 at which time it consisted of a three-floor corn mill, including two undershot water wheels (one of which was out of repair), a drying kiln, a barn, a stable and a shippon. In 1952 it ceased to be a working mill and was taken over by the North West Water Authority (now United Utilities). It was in a derelict condition and in the 1970s it was re-roofed and other repairs were made. Further repairs were made in 1998.

The closure of either this mill, or alternatively Stanney Mill is debated at length in Cheshire Farming - A report of the agriculture of Cheshire (1845) by William Palin of Stapleford Hall.


 * Geograph;

Stanney Mill
"The Mersey as known to the Romans"

To the Mersey
The lower reaches of the River Gowy near Stanlow in Cheshire are subject to periodic flooding from  combinations  of river water and high tides. The River  Gowy  flows through the  Stanlow Manufacturing Complex, an extensive area of oil refineries and other industries adjacent to the Mersey Estuary. Flooding can occur in the Stanlow complex at times; the most recent events occurred during the 1990’s. Flooding of the industrial areas is a risk to the operation of the installations. It could lead to pollution of the floodwater with oil or other chemicals and this contaminated water entering the Mersey Estuary, an area of national and international importance for birds.

Much of the lower river already has flood-banks to reduce the frequency of flooding. There is also a tidal gate at Folly Gates which normally stays open to let the river flow out to the estuary, but closes during high tides to prevent tidal water flowing back up the river. There are two other tidal gates which regulate the flow out of the Thornton Brook and another tributary, Gale Brook.



Stanlow Abbey (or Stanlaw Abbey) was a Cistercian abbey situated on Stanlow Point, on the banks of the River Mersey in the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1178 by John fitz Richard as a daughter abbey of Combermere Abbey. After the death of his father in 1163 John inherited his rule of Halton and the Office of the Constable of Chester, which he became the chief official of Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester. After the death of Hugh in 1181 he served in the same capacity for his heir Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester. In 1166 he paid a fee of 1,000 marks to obtain his mother's possessions. His mother, Albreda de Lisours, was a daughter and heiress of Robert de Lacy (d. 1193). His younger brother Roger fitz Richard was Lord of Warkworth Castle; another brother, Robert fitz Richard, was the prior of the Knights Hospitaller in England. During the rebellion against Henry II of England in 1173, John was a loyal supporter of the king. In early May 1181, when Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath lost the King's favor and was removed from office as Justiciar of Ireland, John was sent to Ireland together with Bishop Richard Peche of Coventry to take control of Dublin. Nevertheless, they supported Hugh before he left Ireland in the construction of many castles in Leinster. The following winter, John and Bishop Richard were recalled to England, while Hugh de Lacy returned to Ireland. On 3 September 1189, John took part in the coronation of Richard I of England. In March 1190, he left England to participate in the Third Crusade. He died during the siege of Acre.

Roger de Lacy, John de Lacy and Edmund de Lacy, respectively the 7th, 8th and 9th Barons of Halton, were buried at Stanlow. The abbey was in an exposed situation near the Mersey estuary and it suffered from a series of disasters. In 1279 it was flooded by water from the Mersey and in 1287 during a fierce storm, its tower collapsed and part of the abbey was destroyed by fire. The monks appealed to the pope for the monastery to be moved to a better site and, with the pope's consent and the agreement of Edward I and Henry de Lacy, the 10th Baron, they moved to Whalley Abbey near Clitheroe, Lancashire. This move took place in 1296. However a small cell of monks remained on the site until the Reformation, the site becoming a grange of Whalley Abbey.

The abbey is located at the north-eastern end of Stanlow Point, a low-lying promontory projecting into the River Mersey and now severed from the mainland by the Manchester Ship Canal. The monument includes both upstanding and buried remains of the monastery and the grange which succeeded it. Because the monastery and grange buildings were later incorporated into now demolished post-medieval farm buildings, the exact interpretation of the upstanding remains is uncertain but they retain a range of architectural features which identify them with the core buildings of the monastery. These upstanding remains include a sandstone wall running east-west across the site; this is two courses thick and stands 1.5-2m high and was latterly used as part of the north wall of the farmhouse and adjacent buildings. At the western end of this wall is a re-used medieval doorway 1m wide. A second sandstone wall runs north-south across the site, slightly apart from the farmhouse and at an angle to it. This wall is up to 3m high and was latterly used as the west wall of farm outbuildings. Amongst other buried features, the monument includes a tunnel cut into sandstone and running west to east. This is lined with 4 courses of sandstone blocks and formed part of the main drain which led to the River Gowy. Some dressed sandstone from the monastery was re-used in the post-medieval farm buildings and is visible in the ruins of the outbuildings. There is a revetment wall on the eastern side of the promontory constructed of re-used sandstone. Antiquarian sources record that a circular rock-cut crypt containing lead coffins and bones was revealed by flooding, although the exact location of this is now unknown.

Related Pages

 * Plegmund;
 * Mickle Trafford;
 * Beeston Castle;

Sources and Links

 * Geodetective: a well-researched and well documented study of the River Gowy;
 * The River Gowy: on CheshireTrove - another brilliant guide to this river;
 * River Gowy on Wikipedia;
 * The River Gowy: by David Ackerley;