Chorley Old Hall is a moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

ed manor house

Manor house

A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 on the A535 road

A535 road

The A535 road is a non-primary route in England that runs from Holmes Chapel, Cheshire to Alderley Edge, Cheshire.It passes through the Dane River valley...

 to the southwest of Alderley Edge

Alderley Edge

Alderley Edge is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,409....

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England. The house has been designated by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 as a Grade I listed building, and the moated site is a scheduled monument. It is the oldest inhabited country house in Cheshire and consists of two ranges, one medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 (built around 1330) and the other Elizabethan

Tudor style architecture

The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...

 (built in the mid-16th century).

History

The original part of the house was built around 1330 by Robert de Chorley. By 1523 the house was owned by the Davenport family and during the middle of the 16th century they constructed a half-timbered house adjoining the existing building's north-western corner. In the early 17th century the house was owned by the Stanley family who carried out alterations around 1640 and built a bridge across the moat. The two houses were joined by a brick link in the late 18th or the early 19th century. In 1915 the house was fully restored and further renovations were carried out in 1975.

Architecture

The house is L-shaped with a south and west ranges. The south range is the oldest part, which is built in buff sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 rubble

Rubble

Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...

 with some later ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 and brick. It has a Kerridge

Kerridge

Kerridge is a village in Cheshire, England, part of the parish of Bollington. Kerridge borders the neighbouring parish of Rainow.It gives its name to Kerridge Ridge – one of the western foothills of the Pennines – by which it stands. It is overlooked by the local landmark of White Nancy...

 stone-slate roof and a stone chimney. The range is in two storeys and has three bays, each with a gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

. In the upper storey of each bay is a five-light window, in the lower storey of the left bay is a four-light window and in the lower storey of the right bay is a six-light window. All these windows are stone and are mullion

Mullion

A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...

ed and transomed

Transom (architectural)

In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...

. In the middle bay is an arched doorway. The timberwork in each gable is different; in the left bay it is heavy with close studding

Close studding

Close studding is a form of timber work used in timber-framed buildings in which vertical timbers are set close together, dividing the wall into narrow panels...

 and a middle rail, in the middle bay the timberwork is light, and in the right bay it is herringbone. The west range is timber-framed

Timber framing

Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...

 on a stone plinth

Plinth

In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...

 with a Kerridge stone-slate roof, a stone ridge and a massive lateral stone chimney. It has two storeys and two bays with a central gable. In the left bay is a five-light window in each storey and the right bay has a four-light window in the upper storey with a door in the lower storey. All these windows are wooden, mullioned and transomed. The timber decoration consists of chevrons on the ground floor, and roundel

Roundel

A roundel in heraldry is a disc; the term is also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of different colours.-Heraldry:...

s and cross motifs above.

External features

The house is surrounded by a moat which widens at the northeast corner where there are two ornamental islands. South of the moat are fishponds. The bridge over the moat, and the gate piers and wing walls to the bridge are both listed Grade II.