Brimstage Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Brunstath

In the civil parish of Bebington.
In the historic county of Cheshire.
Modern Authority of Wirral.
1974 county of Merseyside.
Medieval County of Cheshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ304826
Latitude 53.33657° Longitude -3.04628°

Brimstage Hall has been described as a Fortified Manor House although is doubtful that it was such.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Brimstage Hall and Tower, Grade II House. Tower c.1398, probably a tower house, later possibly C16 extensions and C19 north wing. Stone with slate roof. 3-stage tower has slot windows, corbelled machicolations and early C19 iron railings and stair head. Elliptical-headed stair entrance to north and 2 windows of 2 lights with single-chamfered mullions. Ground floor room has 2-bay rib vault on half and quarter octagonal shafts, corbel in south-west angle said to represent lion (from Domville arms) or Cheshire cat. One of vault bosses has 3 twined fish (possible Hulse arms or symbol of Trinity). North-east spiral stair case has garderobe chambers, that to 3rd stage has original stone latrine, that to 2nd stage has C19 mahogany-cased water closet. West wall shows signs of demolished wing; some double-chamfered-mullioned windows. C19 wing has east facade of 3 bays, 1st gabled projecting bay, re-entrant porch bay, casement windows, those to 3rd bay show signs of original mullioned windows to either side, projecting bay has canted bay window. Rear has wing and some sash windows. Large stack to left return of projecting bay, possibly C16, interior stone fireplace. Upper part of staircase has column balusters. Ground floor room of tower believed to be chapel. (PastScape–ref. listing description)

Comments

King rejected this as a fortified house but the later alterations make it difficult to be certain of the form of the earlier buildings. There is now no trace of a moat, but the former moat and embankment is described in Sulley, who also states the house was built on a flat mound. Sulley's description is possibly somewhat excessive but this is clearly an ancient manorial centre, with a small attached park, which was moated and certainly decorated in a martial style. Gatehouse suspects it was fortified although not to the fanciful excess expressed by some authors.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1183702
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 67381.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MME1457.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Brimstage Hall
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21 (slight)
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 518
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 17 (slight)
  de Figueiredo, P. and Treuherz, J., 1988, Cheshire Country Houses (Chichester: Phillimore) p. 219
  Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p. 26
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 69
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 166-7 online copy
  Sulley, P., 1886, The Hundred of Wirral p. 211-212 online copy
  Ormerod, G., 1882 (2edn), History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 2 p. 434
  Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 2 p. 240-42 (tenurial history) online copy
Periodical Articles
- Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 116 p. 71-132
  1932, Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol. 47 p. 250

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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