The Period House

No. 20 is a good example of a Town House of a prosperous family of local gentry, in this case the Swettenham family of Somerford Booths Hall near Macclesfield. Chester had many of these houses which variously ranged in grandeur. In the 18th Century such houses were the centre of the social activity, particularly during the Chester Races which were held in the first week in May. However, in the 19th Century these houses often fell into disrepair and many were demolished. Over the next two centuries Egerton House, the house of the Egertons of Oulton, which was on the site of the Northgate roundabout, disappeared to make way for the ring road in the 1960's, and another very fine house, number 52-54 Lower Bridge Street was demolished.

Today most of the town houses that survive do so only as gutted shells, and are used as offices. A few, such as like Booth's Mansion in Watergate Street, which was the town house of the Booths (Lord Stamford) of Dunham Massey, have been restored and can now be fully appreciated. It is fortunate that No. 20 Castle Street has survived, and that it is now possible to display it as part of the Grosvenor Museum. Number 20 Castle Street was not a particularly grand house, but the large panelled room on the first floor shows that the owners of the house had social aspirations.

The building has undergone many extensive alterations over the past three hundred years and it is difficult to decide if any parts of the house are earlier than about 1680. It is possible that the original house could have been half-timbered and the building has been progressively clad in brickwork. The earliest features of the house are:

1) The back brick wall of the house facing onto the conservatory. The brickwork is set in English bond, a method of bricklaying which was replaced by 'Flemish' bond early in the 18th Century. There is a decorative brick corbelled string course at the start of the second floor level. This was to provide greater support for the floor joists at this level

2) The staircase. This seems to date to about 1680. The staircase is almost identical to one in the Dutch houses in Bridge Street. The 'Barley Sugar' balusters of the staircase are typical of the later part of the 17th Century.

3) Panelling in the Stuart room. This is likely to have been made at the same time as the staircase. It is possible that it could have been moved from a room in the Castle Street frontage when this was reconstructed in the early 18th Century.

Sometime between 1710 and 1730 the house was extensively altered and a new brick facade was built to the house. This is now in 'Flemish' bond and a heavy 'bolechthion' moulding was added to the front doorway. This moulding is repeated on the door from the stair landing going into the 'Georgian' Room. The owner of the house seems to have wanted a more impressive drawing room and the room was heightened to put the much higher panelling in position. This was done by 'pinching' about three feet from the room above, which now has steps up to it. This was the reason for the rebuilding of the frontage.

The panelling in the 'Victorian' Room was probably put in place at this time, and the wide arch with a keystone to the hallway dates from this period. Later alterations to the building are less obvious. The kitchen area is likely to have been remodelled in the 1880's when the range was put in position.

There was also an outside washhouse in the backyard which was demolished in about 1950 when 20 Castle Street was joined to the Museum by a corridor. The structural problems in the building which caused the extensive restoration work between 1979 and 1982 were largely  the result of alterations which had taken place in the early 18th Century. The new brick facade and rooms at the front tended to pull away from the slightly older rooms at the back of the building. This resulted in collapse in the centre, particularly in the hallway where there was inadequate support over a brick vaulted cellar beneath.