History

The History of Wrenbury Hall goes back as far as the Domesday Survey when it was known as ‘Warenberie’. In the reign of Edward III (1327 – 1377), the estate was held by John de Wrenbury – ‘by the render of XIId in silver, or one sparrowhawk’, and then passed through the female line to the Olton family and then to the Starkey family.

Elen de Olton brought the estate to her husband Thomas Starkey of Stretton and their descendants held it until 1802. In 1811, following the death of Elinor Starkey, the last direct heir of the Starkey family, the estate passed to her nephew John Cross, on condition that he adopted the name of Starkey, and thence on the death of John Cross Starkey in April 1855, to Arthur Starkey, his grandson and the only surviving son of Samuel Cross Starkey by his first wife Henrietta Suft Nanson. Arthur Starkey died on 9^th. October 1912, and Wrenbury Hall came into the possession of his nephew, Kenneth Vere Starkey, who sold the Hall and about 164 acres of land to Cheshire County Council in 1920.

Until the 1950s, the Hall became a training centre for tuberculosis sufferers through the generosity of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. The Hall then became a traini9ng centre for ambulance personnel until 1982, when it was purchased by the present owners and restored to its original state.

In December 1643, during the Civil War, Wrenbury and the surrounding areas were occupied by the King’s forces in the attempt to besiege Nantwich. It is believed that Wrenbury Hall served to provide shelter and accommodation for the Roundheads.

The Hall was described by Ormerod in 1882 as ‘a large white building, in some parts of considerable antiquity, finished with gables and surrounded with park-like grounds and considerable plantations’.  Although parts of the present building date from the seventeenth century, the frontage was reconstructed during the period 1916 – 1919 in an Elizabethan style, using blocks of sandstone known as ‘Hollington Mottle’.

A secret underground passage is reputed to run from a cellar in the Hall to the chancel of Wrenbury Church, a distance of approximately one mile. This is not now capable of proof, but there was undoubtedly a passage leading from one of the cellars, now long bricked up.

The front staircase of dark oak, with heavy spiral balusters and balustrade to match is believed to be some 400 years old, taken from the original building, and gives some idea of the Hall’s antiquity. The painted wooden mantelpieces are also from the original building and are considered of particular interest. The mantelpiece in the ‘green room’, to the left of the front entrance, bears the black stork, the main feature of the Starkey (Wrenbury Hall) coat of arms.

Full coats of arms can be seen above the main entrance and in the oak room. Starkey coats of arms can also be viewed on the left hand side of the altar in Wrenbury church. The front pews on the left also bear the black stork emblem. The left side of the chancel depicts the Starkey family, and on the right, the Cotton family.

It is reputed that a ghost haunts Wrenbury Hall bridge. Legend says that one of the Starkey daughters waits for her fiancé to welcome him home.