ADHS – History of Crewe Hall

A Review of Audlem History Society's February talk

Last Thursday evening we were treated to a talk on the history of Crewe Hall and the Crewe family given by Graham Dodd. The talk was based on a book by Ray Gladden and Graham Dodd entitled:
"The Crewes of Crewe Hall", which is still available to buy from Nantwich Museum.

The name Crewe is a Celtic or Saxon name derived from a fish dam, or trap, or weir. In 1066 the manor was granted to a nephew of William the Conqueror, and subsequently passed on to Richard de Vernon.

Around 1100, the first manor house was constructed, and from 1319 lived in by the Fouleshursts family. It was later sold to Elizabeth 1's Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton, and then acquired by Ranulphe Crewe, later MP for Cheshire and Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1615 began the construction of the Jacobean Hall itself.

During its chequered history, the Hall changed hands at various stages of the English Civil War from the Parliamentarians to the Royalists and back again. Later, there were several famous people linked to the Hall, including Charles Dickens' father, John, and visitors such as Lord Palmerston, George Canning, and King George V in 1913, who stayed for 3 days.

Graham told of the connection with the development of the railways in Crewe, about the devastating fire of 1866 which left only a shell of the Hall, and on into the twentieth century where various historical events impacted on the Hall and the family. In 1936 it was sold to the Duchy of Lancaster, and later leased by the War Department, and in 1943 used as a POW camp for captured Germans.

After the war, Calmic moved into the Hall, followed by the Wellcome Foundation in 1966, and in 1998 it became a hotel.

Graham's whistle-stop tour kept us entertained as well as informed, as he included many amusing asides throughout. His talks are always welcomed by our Society as he is such an excellent speaker.

Picture credit – Espresso Addict, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons