Upton Hall



North of the liberties of Chester, enveloping Bache, lay the substantial manor of Upton with the home of the lord of the manor being at Upton Hall. Upton Hall no longer exists except as perhaps some buried ruins near where the railway to Liverpool passes under the Liverpool Road north of Chester. However, the vanished house is associated with an interesting history and many "legends". An "error" in Ormerod (or his sources) may well have led to some very confusing inscriptions at St Mary on the Hill as regards the relationships of the early Brocks.

According to one history (see: Cathedral), in 958 King Edgar (The Pacific) granted the manor to St. Werburgh's minster (this is the first mention of "definite" evidence of the existence of a church of canons dedicated to St. Werburgh at Chester), but thereafter it was evidently lost. Edgar only became King in 959, but in 955 he had seized the Northumbrian and Mercian kingdoms from his older brother, Edwy, and so there may be some truth in that tale and it appears that Edgar did grant land to the familia of St. Werburgh in the form of seventeen hides of land in Hoseley (Flints.), Cheveley, Huntington, Upton, Aston, and Barrow.

Upton has been said to have been assessed at 4½ hides in 1066, although Chester was not conquered by the Normans until later. It was held by Anglo-Saxon Earl Edwin and after the Conquest passed to Earl Hugh, when it was held by "Herbert the Jerkin Maker" and Hamon de Macey (Massey). Some versions state that Hugh's heir, the ill-fated Earl Richard of Avranches (1101–20) supposedly granted it to Chester abbey, which retained it until the Dissolution and held a court there to which many of its other manors also paid suit. In the 14th century several prominent Chester families established out-of-town estates in Upton, including the Doncasters, Daresburys, and Hurrells.

Upton Hall


The manor passed to the dean and chapter at the Dissolution (1541) but was lost to fee farmers in the early 1550s. In 1553 it was granted to Sir Richard Cotton, which were passed on to his son George, then sold to Richard Spencer. In the late 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries the fee farmers included the Brocks, holders of the manor and resident at the hall, and the Brown(e)s. In 1734 the manorial estate passed by marriage to the Egerton family of Oulton (the male Brock line having died out) and remained in the hands of the Grey-Egertons and their trustees in 1939. Upton Hall was held by the Ithells, well-to-do tenant farmers, in the later 19th century and until the 1930s, when it was demolished (1933).

Cromwell
There are several "legends" about Oliver Cromwell visiting Chester or Cheshire during the Civil War. These include:

Cromwell at Chester:
A letter found in Shropshire Archives purports to be written on July 16th, 1649 by "Oliver Crumwel" in Chester. The text of the letter is as follows:


 * "These are to require you to suffer and permit the bearer here of James Smith to have a horse and a pass from Constable to Constable from the City of Chester to the City of Bristol he behaving himself timely being a soldier for the states has orders for to quarter [stay in accommodation] for 21 hours, and if any doth resist him, the Constables of that liberty are assist him and to press him a horse for 4 miles span forward for the special business that he goes about."

The is considerable debate about the veracity of this letter. Firstly, there is no record of Cromwell ever visiting Chester. Secondly, on July 10th, 1649, Cromwell had left London for Milford Haven, on the South Wales coast. He was in the process of gathering an army for a campaign to quell the Marquis of Ormond's rebellion in Ireland. Given that the letter was supposed to be signed by him at Chester on 16th July, Cromwell would have had to make a long, hasty (and unrecorded) diversion northwards to pass through Chester on the way to Milford Haven.

Cromwell at Mollington:
The township of Mollington was created by combination in 1900 of Great and Little Mollington. However, its origins are much older, and Great Mollington was better known as Mollington Torrant through most of its history. The name Mollington is old English ("the farm of Moll's people') from well before the Norman conquest in 1066. It was then given by the new Earl of Chester to Robert de Rodelent. The Domesday Book records his ownership in 1086: "There are one and a half hides that pay geld. There is land enough for three ploughs". The manors of Mollington and Thurstanston appears from the Doomsday survey to have been given, along with adjacent townships, to Robert de Rodelent. Robert supposedly fell in battle in 1088 (there is some doubt about the date). Once Robert de Rodelent died (in battle) it passed to Matthew de Rodelent, who was likely the illegitimate son of Robert. Once his brother became a monk at Chester, Matthew presented the church to the abbot and convent of St. Werborgh. William, the son of this Matthew, assumed a local name, and confirmed the gift of his father to the abbey.

There is no further mention of Mollington until 1309. It then came into the ownership of William Torrand (= Torrant or Torret). By 1797 the whole estate and manor had been sold to John Feilden (see: Earls Eye), whose family controlled Mollington through the 19th century. In 1840 the Chester-Birkenhead Railway came through Feilden's estate and a station, now closed, was constructed with its Feilden coat of arms, is still there as a private house.

The web-site of the cheese-making firm at Mollington Grange records the following:


 * "Mollington Grange was once a monastic farm, serving the Abbey of St Werburgh (now Chester Cathedral), just 2 miles away. In 1649, when Cromwell returned from Ireland he shot the Royalist owner of the Grange, landed a cannon ball in the side of the wall, and set up camp with his artillery for the siege of Chester."

Mollington Grange was indeed once a farmhouse with C16/C17 origins but rebuilt late C17/early C18 with later C18 and mid C19 alterations. However, the problem with this is that on his return from Ireland, Cromwell landed at Avonmouth (near Bristol) in 1650 (c. 28th March) and the Siege of Chester had ended long before in Jan 1646. Although Cromwell then travelled north to Scotland later in the same year, he went up the eastern side of Britain, through Cambridge, Northampton, York, Durham and Newcastle. He never went anywhere near Mollington Grange (formerly known as Little Mollington Hall).



Cromwell at Upton:
While "staying in Little Mollington", Cromwell is supposed to have visited Upton Hall. The tale is recorded as:


 * "(Bache Hall) was rebuilt after the old house was demolished during the 1643 – 46 siege of Chester in the Civil War, when it was garrisoned by Parliamentary troops. The owner was Edward Whitby who was recorder to the City at the time, he was one of several who lost their houses this way around the periphery of the city. Blacon, Flookersbrook and Hoole halls were all lost but Upton Hall just across the fields was garrisoned by Colonel Bereton and even visited by Cromwell himself and faired much better. "

In fact, as we shall see Upton Hall did not fare much better - it was burnt to the ground. Cromwell could not have stayed at Little Mollington in 1650 and certainly could not have visited Upton Hall as it had already been burned-down. The main reference on the movements of Oliver Cromwell is "The Cromwellian Gazetteer" by Peter Gaunt. This was designed as a guide to sites connected with the Parliamentary cause during the Civil War and Interregnum 1642-1660, giving particular prominence to those places linked to Cromwell. The gazetteer makes it clear that the closest that Cromwell is known to have approached Chester in person was 9th-12th Aug 1648 when he visited Warrington, to pursue the Scots Royalist army (which surrendered) as a diversion from his march towards Scotland.

Haunting
According to the History of Upton:


 * "Upton Hall is said to have been haunted by a monk but not according to the family who lived there. (The family who lived there) recount that there was an old lady in black or grey silk who silently walked there but was never seen by any of them."

Tunnels
A local legend exists that there was once an underground passage leading from the Hall and that it was blocked up in the middle part of the nineteenth century by the then occupant, Thomas Ithell. This passage was supposed to connect the Hall with Chester Cathedral. This is one of many tales of underground tunnels leading to Chester Cathedral (see Stanley Palace), some of which may be due to the fragments of Roman and Medieval sewers found in Chester : but there is no hard evidence for the existence of a tunnel from Upton.

Treasure
Another local story records treasure being found in or near the Hall:


 * "An old lady was left in the house while the rest of the family were away for the evening. As she sat quietly sewing in the kitchen she heard a sound like the towel on the door being moved. She turned but saw nothing. A second later she heard the sound again and asked "what do you want?" thinking someone must be at the door. She heard a voice say "follow me". She went in the direction of the voice and was led to a flagstone and told to take it up and she would be rich. She obeyed the instruction and found a lot of money. The voice was never heard again."

The only confirmed find of "treasure" at the hall was in the summer of 2004 when an Upton History Group member unearthed an old gun on the Hall field whilst walking her dog. It was taken to the Grosvenor Museum for identification and turned out to be a gentleman’s pocket pistol with a percussion-cap firing mechanism. This dated it to between 1840-1850 but the gun itself could have been much older as it appeared that the firing mechanism was an addition, probably an upgrade.

Actual History


The Old Hall, as it is refered to in the Parish Minutes, was situated to the west of Upton, off the old turnpike road which ran from Chester to Liverpool, now the Liverpool Road. Apparently a very much earlier Upton Hall was situated off Upton Lane - now the site of a golf club-house. The first mention of Upton Hall is in a map of Saxton's dated 1577. It is marked in several maps of the sixteenth century also. The house lay in a slight hollow and commanded a fine view of the Welsh Hills from the dining room window. Together with the manor of Upton it was owned by Richard Spencer in the 1570s, and soon afterwards came into' the possession of the Brock family who lived there "as early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth" (Bagshaw: "History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County Palatine of Chester", page 152) until the early eighteenth century. The Brocks were the owners during the turbulent times of the Civil War when (according to Ormerod and Lysons) the Hall was indeed garrisoned by Brereton during the siege of Chester, and it has been said that Roundhead troops and horses were stationed in the courtyard. Daniel King, in the Vale Royal (1656), describes the hall as "a fair house", but he may be writing from memory (he was born in Chester) as the hall was burnt down before 1650.

In 1839-40 the Chester and Birkenhead Railway was cut across its drive. The 1839 tithe map shows the layout of the hall buildings and strongly indicates the presence of a pond or possibly the remnant of a moat belonging to an older hall. The hall was described as "a large brick building which appeared to be of Elizabethan structure, with interesting old mullioned windows". In 1897 a surveyor from Mollington, John Davies, came in July of that year to make a valuation on the property for the Egerton family. He has left a good description of the Hall at almost the end of its long life when it was already in decay. Davies described two approaches from the main road (although only one is shown on maps of the time), fields in a good state of cultivation, especially wheat, but the "accommodation was old and considerably out of repair". He valued the whole property and land as comprising over 46 acres at £11/7s/4d.

The Brocks
Both Ormerod and Earwaker (in his St. Mary-on-the- Hill) give pedigrees of this family, but they do not agree; the former appears to have followed the 1663 Visitation (which contains errors) but quotes no wills, while the latter apparently did not examine all the existing wills. To try to clarify matters, each William Brock of the main line in the following is identified by roman numerals.

Lawyer William Brock was MP for Chester from September 1597 until 1601. His brother, Robert Brock was an alderman of Chester who died 30th November 1603. William Brock (MP) died in 1611. The 1663 Visitation makes him the son of Robert Brock, whereas it makes more sense if he was the brother William to Robert mentioned in wills. The history of parliament website also lists him as the son of Robert Brock but makes no mention of a son and heir William (I), rather citing only a daughter for whom he had to appoint overseers (as she was still young, being nine years old at his death) and a wife, Anne, daughter of Sir Benjamin Tichborne, 1st Baronet (c. 1542 – 6 September 1629) an English landowner, courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1588 and 1593. The coat of arms of William Brock (MP) differed from that of the other Brocks as it featured a badger as a heraldic pun. MP Brock's house at Longwood (Hampshire) was a sizable property and it makes no sense that it passed out of the family if William (MP) was actually the father of William (I).

The involvement of the Brocks in the Assembly of Chester was not without dispute. One George Brock (probably the second son of Robert Brock) was admitted freeman in 1606 because he paid £10 and "because he was descended of right worshipful parentage and was neerelie alyed unto greate personages whoe have laboured on his behalf". Edward Brock (probably the third son of Robert) was made common councilman in October 1612 but in 1623 was suspended after he accused Christopher Bleaze, a member of the Assembly, and others of paying for votes in the Assembly. The minutes of a later meeting record that he had spoken "divers undecent scornfull and contemptuous speeches" since his suspension. Edward appears to have died in 1639.

During the Civil War the fortunes of William Brock (II) changed when Upton Hall was occupied (supposedly in November 1644) by Parliamentarian troops under Brereton to stop food being taken into Chester during the siege. Brock was about 21 when the Civil War broke out and his marriage to Elizabeth Brerewood puts him firmly in the Royalist camp. Apparently the garrison was not there long and left in March 1645. According to tradition Cromwell's soldiers carried provisions and ammunition along Butter Hill (using the path which cuts through the middle of the Zoo), Flag Lane and "Smoke Street" (Upton Lane) to Upton Hall. The Hall was burned down at some time in the 1640's so in 1650 when William Brock's land had been sequestrated, he went before the "Committee for Compounding" to petition to sell his land in Moreton since he was living "on the charity of his mother and brethren". In his petition to the Committee for Compounding his case is stated thus:


 * "He had lived in Chester long before these troubles, and his estates had been sequestrated because Chester was held for the King, though he himself had never borne arms and had no other habitation to go to. His house [at Upton] had been burned down it was worth £1000 and 22 milch kine (milk cows) in the barn were also burnt, and he had had other great losses. He asked leave to compound ; he had taken the Negative Oath and the National Covenant."

The "Negative Oath" was the oath that royalists needed to take in order to keep their lands after they had fallen to Parliament. A further petition, about November 1650, states:


 * "His composition is set at £280, but he has no estate free and is living on the charity of his mother and brethren. He therefore asks leave to sell two several tenements in Moreton in Wirral and messuages, etc., in Christleton and Cotton."

Permission was given on 20 November 1650 to sell "the said fee farm rents," provided the composition be paid (Com. for Compounding, G 187, ff. 804, 806).

The fact that the hall at Upton was burned down some time before 1650 puts paid to any theory that the Elizabethan hall survived until the 20th Century. After the Restoration of 1660 William Brock (II) was offered a knighthood by King Charles II as were many people at that time. William refused the honour preferring to pay the £10 fine - this was a normal procedure since this was one of the methods the King used to raise money and people found it cheaper to pay the fine rather than be put to the expense of suitable clothes and travel to London.

Later in the 17th century William Brock (III) was renting out property in Upton. In 1680 he rented a cottage and land to a William Healey and Mary his wife for the period of three lives. Then in 1682 he rented Demage Cottage to Thomas Ithell and Margaret his wife for the period of three lives. Thomas later bought the property and ever since this time the Ithell family have been living in or near Upton. In 1685 William rented the "Portfield" along with a house and a ‘smithy ‘ to a John Davies – a Tailor. The Portfield is roughly the piece of land that holds the "Egerton Arms" (now "The Mill") the shops at the Bache along Upton Drive up to Bache Drive down to Liverpool Road and back to what was once called the Egerton Arms.

As the male Brock line died out in 1734 the Hall became the property of Elizabeth Egerton (nee Brock) and so passed into the hands of the Egertons, later the Grey-Egertons of Oulton. The will of William Brock (IV), the last of the line, is simple:


 * "The Will of WILLIAM BROCK of UPTON co. Chester, esquire, dated 2 April 1728, was proved C.C. Chester 1st  August, 1735 by the sole executrix. Testator gives a messuage and tenement in Leeswood, co. Flint, lately purchased of David Hughes of Bron-coed in the same county, to my three youngest daughters, Susan Brock, Margaret Brock and Anne Brock and their heirs. To wife Elizabeth Brock one hundred pounds with the use of my plate [etc.]. All the rest, together with one thousand pounds reserved by me in a settlement made of my Cheshire estate upon the intermarriage of my eldest daughter, to my said three youngest daughters equally."

In fact, the "last" William Brock (IV) did have a son, another William (V) who survived infancy (a second son died at 7 in 1707). However William (V) was taken ill in North Wales and died, aged 19 in 1715 having made it as far as St John Street in Chester. Thus, in 1721, when eldest daughter, Elizabeth married John Egerton of Oulton, William already knew he was the last of his line.

The hall was then let to various tenants. From 1820 until 1925 the Hall was tenanted and the land farmed by the Ithell family (of which more below).

The Brock Family Tree
The Brock family tree still presents some issues: with a profusion of William Brocks (I-V) and the mistakes made by, or perhaps copied by, Ormerod. Many of the charts found by searching online have accumulated clear errors with sons being born in some cases several years after the death of their supposed father (the errors on the inscription mentioned below do not help). Referring to Ormerod's pedigree of Brock, William (I) Brock, Sheriff of Cheshire (1732), was baptised at Shotwick, 30 Dec., 1675 as "William Brock of Bredley"; Ormerod states that he was son of William Brock by his wife Katherine Gregg, married at Grappenhall 14 May, 1677 (sic - this is over a year after their child was baptised), but it seems more probable, according to Beazley, that his mother was Susannah, daughter of Joseph Hockenhull whom Ormerod wrongly assigns as second wife to grandfather William (I) - (who died in 1640) - a fact which has distorted many versions of the family tree; in support of this, her marriage licence is dated 21 Oct., 1674, and her first child was born at her old home in Shotwick.

Wills, as referenced in Beazley, and where they exist contemporaneous memorials, are a far better source. Robert Brock's (badly frayed) will names Edward, William and Robert as sons (and perhaps John). John Brock is described as the son of Robert in his own will, which was contested. William, brother of Robert, appears to be associated with the Inner Temple, and so is most likely the MP. The will of William (I) - made the day before he died - mentions wife Anne, (not Susannah) a son William (II), a daughter Melio and a young son John. The Will of William (II) has apparently not survived. The will of William (III) mentions a second wife Rachel (after the death of Susannah) and a son William (IV). The will of William (IV) mentions wife Elizabeth, daughters Susan, Margaret and Anne as well as a married daughter (Katherine).

The best guess at the tree seems to be as follows (* means will is quoted in Beazley):

John Brock(e) = Parnell Vawdrey
 * Robert* (d. 1603) - Alderman of Chester = Jane Cotgreave (w. of Richard King)
 * William* (I) (d. 1640) - Sheriff of Chester = Anne Mohun (d. 1660) - buried in StMotH
 * William (II) (b. 1622 - d.1671 - lost property in Civil War) = Elizabeth Brerewood (d. 1662 - daughter of Sir Robert Brerewood MP)
 * William* (III) (b. 1643 - d.1715) = (i) Susanna Hockenhull (buried in StMotH) = (ii) Rachel
 * William* (IV) (b. 1675 - d.1734 - last of the male Brock line) = Elizabeth (d. 1735)
 * Thomas (b.1700 - d. 1707, aged 7)
 * William (V) (pre-deceased his father at age 19 in 1715)
 * Katherine = John Egerton of Oulton (Upton Hall passes to the Egertons)
 * Susannah (d. 1766 - last surviving Brock - memorial in StMotH) = William Delves
 * Margaret
 * Anne

(other children of William (III) and Susanna)
 * Elizabeth? - possibly lived at Upper Upton Hall (now the club house of Upton Golf Club)

(other children of William (II) and Eliz Brerewood)
 * John (d. 1725)
 * Randle (b. 1657)
 * Margaret (b. 1656)
 * Elizabeth (d, 1658)

(other children of William (I) and Anne Mohun)
 * Melio
 * John
 * Avice = Edward Gregge
 * Katherine = Robert Fletcher
 * 6 other children of William (I) and Anne Mohun

(other children of Robert and Jane)
 * George: made Freeman of Chester 1606
 * Edward (d.1639): fell out with the Assembly - buried in StMotH?
 * John* (stepson?) = Anne Gamull - will was disputed
 * Katherine = Thomas Gregge

(other children of John)
 * William (b. 1566 - d. 1611) - MP for Chester from September 1597 until 1601 = Anne (nee Tichborne) - she later remarried William Timperley
 * a daughter
 * John (brother of Robert, d. before 1603)
 * ? (the relevant will is badly damaged)
 * Peter (alive 1603)
 * Katherine (alive 1603)

Memorials
While the earlier Brocks were buried at the Cathedral, many of the later Brocks are buried at St Mary on the Hill in Chester. Both Hemingway and Hanshall both writing in the period 1810-30, record the following two monuments:

(1) On a brass plate (with numbers added to indicate which Brock) which has "since been lost":


 * "Here lyeth the body of William Brock (I) of Upton in the county of Chester esquire who by Anne his wife daughter and co-heir to Robert Mohune of Baynton in the county of Dorcet Esq had yssue 4 sonnes and 7 daughters He died on the 4th day of April 1640 and here also liethe the body of Edward Brock his unkell who died on the 2d day of October 1639 Susannah daughter of Joseph Hockenhull of Shotwick Esq wife of Wm Brock (III) William Brock (III) Esq died 10th Jan 1715 aged 75 William Brock of Upton Esq his eldest son died Aug 19 1734 aged 58"

The brass plate raises several issues. The first confusion here is the William Brock who died aged 58 in 1734. He is apparently described as being the eldest son of William Brock (I), but, from the age as given, would have been born around 1676, whereas we know, from the same tablet, that William Brock (I) died in 1640. Thus the reference must be to William Brock (IV). Further confusion arises from Edward Brock being described as the uncle of William (I) Brock - i.e. another brother of Robert (who is named nowhere else). Edward's whereabouts from his death (October 1639) until after the death of his "nephew" (April 1640) are unknown.

The "brass" is mentioned in Earwaker's history of St Mary on the Hill, as being "formerly in the north aisle" but Earwaker quotes a shorter text which omits everything after "1639". Several other versions are given in the footnotes to Earwaker. Earwaker died in 1895 and his book was published postumously in 1898 and edited by Rupert Morris, who included many of Earwaker's jottings as footnotes in putting togther the final text. Had Earwaker completed the book himself, it is possible that he would have included only one text of the "brass".

(2) On a "nearby" marble monument:


 * "To the Memory of Mrs Susannah Brock who died March 20 1766 She was daughter of Wm Brock (IV) Esq of Upton in this county and the last of that ancient family This monument was erected by her nephew and nieces the son and daughters of John Egerton Esq of Broxton in this county "

The Ithells
The "History of Upton" website provides the following information:


 * "Ithell is an old Cheshire name and occurs in a list of Cheshire Archers in the reign of Henry V (21 March 1413 – 31 August 1422) as John ap Ith(ell). At the end of the thirteenth century (1292-93, 1295-1296, 1297-99) a Sheriff of Chester was named Robert Ythel (also for two terms in 1300-1302). The Ithells of Upton claim to have lived here for several hundred years and to have farmed under the Egerton family for many generations. Records in the Parish Registers of St Mary on the Hill, and in the old Vestry Minutes book 1741-1895 have many references to this family. The Vestry Minutes also show how from father to son they served the Parish well as overseers of the poor, parish constables and waywards of the township of Upton. Indeed on the first page in the book is the account of the charge for the poor of the Township of Upton of John Ithell, overseer, dated May 1741. Since 1894 too, an Ithell has served on Parish and Rural District Councils until the 1940s. About 1820 Thomas Ithell removed from an ancient farmhouse nearby to Upton Hall. He lived there during the greater part of the nineteenth century until he died in 1876 at the advanced age of 99 years 9 months. He was succeeded by one son, and then by the son of another son - Mr. Richard Ithell. The last named was the tenant from 2nd February, 1890, until he gave up possession on 2nd February, 1925, when he retired to his own house, Manor House, Upton. Mr. Richard Ithell held the Hall under the last owner. Sir Philip Henry Brian Grey-Egerton. He, Mr. Ithell, was the oldest tenant on the estate at the time of the Silver Wedding celebrations of Sir Philip and Lady Grey-Egerton. These were held at Oulton Park and representatives of the tenantry of Upton were present. Their gift, a handsome silver cake basket of George III period, was presented by Mr. Richard Ithell. The goodwill and fellowship between the house of Egerton and the tenants was stressed. Sir Philip was called "one of the finest landlords in England" and "the ideal country squire." In reply Sir Philip mentioned that one notable feature of the Egerton estate was the "family" tradition whereby one generation succeeded another as tenants. One of the most striking examples of this was provided by the Ithell family, who have been associated with the estate for about four hundred years."

Ithel(l) is of course a fairly common Welsh name, and so the archer "John son of Ithell" need not be an ancestor of the later Ithells.

Around 1891, Richard Ithell laid out a six-hole golf-course in the hall grounds adjacent to, and just north of, the then County Asylum. The club’s stay there was temporary, and it moved in 1902 to the Bache Hall Estate. The land was tenanted by Major McGillicuddy, an Irish landowner and one of the founders of the Bache Golf Club as it was then known. in 1910, the Bache Hall estate was put up for sale and so at the end of that year, the club was again looking for a suitable new home. Several possible sites were considered in 1911 before eventually, and after lengthy negotiations, the Chester Golf Club moved to Brewers Hall Farm in Curzon Park.

Demolition
The house was demolished in 1933, when the Cheshire County Council purchased the land for extensions to the "Asylum" - although nothing was ever built on the site of the hall. The map shows the site as it was and an overlay of a satellite view and the photograph shows the site as it is today. There is no sign on the ground that anything ever stood there, apart from some sharp changes in field boundaries and a need to explain a railway bridge (now crossed by a bridle-path). Even the "pond" (or moat) shown on the tithe map has gone.

Related Pages

 * Brerewood;
 * Civil War;
 * Upton;
 * St Mary on the Hill;

Sources and Links

 * History of Upton;
 * WI History scrapbook;
 * more WI History scrapbook;
 * The Brocks;
 * Notes on the Brock's of Cheshire (Beazley);
 * a Brock family tree - appears to contain errors;
 * Property in Moreton;
 * Lancs. and Cheshire Hist. Soc. n.s. xxvi. 124; xxvii. 182;
 * Hants (Harl. Soc. lxiv), 126;
 * Brasenose Reg. (Oxford Hist. Soc. lv), 65.
 * Chester Wills 1545-1620 (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. ii), 29;
 * Chester RO, ass. bk. 1, ff. 246d, 277;
 * D’Ewes, 579; PCC 101
 * Wood; VCH Hants, iii. 419, 541; iv. 541;
 * Wards 7/35/65;
 * CSP Dom. 1611-18, p. 95.