Historical Buildings

Broom Cottage is a Grade II listed building.

The history of Broom Cottage starts in 1664 when a hearth tax for one chimney was paid. The original house is understood to be timber framed and many of the historic timbers inside the house today are thought to have come from the original property. In 1736 a lease was taken out on the property by a tenant John Henshall, the lease stated that within 5 years he must rebuild the house in brick and that every 7 years he should plant young oak trees in the hedgerows. Sure enough, in 1741 John Henshall and his wife Mary rebuilt the house in brick and this is the property seen today. Post WW2 a lean-to brick extension was constructed at the side and this housed the post office and village stores.

Crown Lane Farmhouse was probably built in the late 17th Century. It is built of Flemish bond brown brick and has a slate roof. The listing states that with regards to the interior it has:

Miscellaneous oak beams to lower storey ceilings; good dog-leg stair of 4 flights to upper storey and attic with wavy splat balusters. Good, complete oak roof structure of wide span with 3 purlins and 3 raking struts to each principal rafter.

Crown Lane Farm was originally owned by the Tabley Estate, but was sold off at auction in January 1920 when many of the outlying properties of the Tabley Estate were sold. The tenant at the time was Mrs Anne Dutton, and the sale included the farmhouse and 73 acres of land.

Crown Lane Farm was for many years a farmhouse and ale house. The farm was well known for its excellent farm house teas around the 1930’s to which people travelled long distance to attend. Before there was any post office in the village, the mail was also delivered twice a week there. Anyone receiving a letter in those days had to pay 6d for it, which in todays money [2025] would be £1.42. So maybe a second class stamp, which in 2025 would be 87p, is not that expensive!

Barrows Brow Cottage and Farmhouse are grade II listed buildings built in the early 17th Century. Whilst they were originally one dwelling they are now two houses.

The houses have a well-documented history, with the Barrow family and descendants living there for at least 100 years in the mid 1600’s.

In 1664, John Barrow paid hearth tax for one chimney. In 1702 John Barrow did parish service for his own house, and in 1708 and 1727, William Barrow did parish service for his own house. At that time parish service was carried out primarily due to legal and social compulsion. It was mandatory to attend church services and the parish handled both religious and administrative functions for the community e.g. maintaining roads, providing relief for the poor, and law enforcement.

In 1763, the Barrows Brow tenement was leased from the Leycester family of the Tabley estate by John Williamson. The Leycester family were significant land owners in the area and patrons of St Oswald’s church.

In 1815 Charles Pratchett lived in the property and continued to do so until at least 1831. Charles was the schoolmaster in 1814.

In 1898, Mr Wooley lived in the property. He was a wheelwright, and in 1934 his widow and daughter bought the property, when many of the properties from the Tabley Estate were sold.

Smithy Green Cottage was probably built in the late 17th century or early 18th Century. It has a timber frame with whitewashed brick infill.

The fields linked to the cottage on the tythe map are all called ‘Woods’. Deeds for the Woods tenement go back to 1501, when King Henry VII was on the throne of England. At that time the land belonged to Robert Cotton. In 1569, the land and any buildings were sold to Sir Peter Leicester for £10.

In 1664, Peter Wood held the lease on the property and paid hearth tax for one chimney. The hearth tax was an English tax on households based on the number of hearths they had, intended to raise revenue for King Charles II. Peter Wood was a will maker and went on to live in Knutsford.

Since then, many people have lived in the cottage and worked on the land. However, at some point the cottage was divided into two houses. One was a sweet shop, and the other cottage was a cobbler shop. The property is now one house again.

The ‘Old Smithy’ was built about 500 years ago, as a blacksmith’s shop. Its main purpose was to service the horses on the stage coach running from Manchester to London and else-where. During the time that the horses were serviced they rested at nearby Peover Hall, until they were required to pull another coach. This building was one of the first in the area to be converted from a thatch to a slated roof. For many years, Mr Arnold Jackson, was the blacksmith, and he was well known throughout the area.

Mrs Craggs shop use to be on Church Walk in Lower Peover. Many generations of school children will probably have very fond memories of the shop, which must have been every child’s dream of what a ‘tuck shop’ should be. It is to be found at the last house on the right just before you go through the gate into the churchyard. This property is now a private house.

The shop sold all sorts of items, but her bottles of sweets were displayed on the shelves inside the little front window. Mrs Cragg made delicious humbugs for which she became famous. Her sweets are represented in the border to the millennium window in the church.