Team Wadas: Cranage Hall History

Cranage Hall, in Holmes Chapel, was the first hotel we stayed at in England. It was a beautiful estate turned hotel with golf, a soccer/football practice field, and beautiful grounds. We learned a bit about the estate's history, so we thought we'd share it with you....

Cranage Hall - Front

While we couldn't find an exact date when Cranage Hall originated, Cranage was mentioned in the 1086 Doomsday Survey. The Cranage Estate was gifted by Roger de Runchamp to the priory of Saint John of Jerusalem in the early 12th century. It was during this early period that the manor was vested in the Croxton family and later assumed the name Cranage Hall.

It appears that Cranage Hall was owned seperately from the rest of the manor for a time. In 1660 it was sold by Viscount Kilmorey to William Swettenham 'A Gent of Swettenham' for the sum of 2,800 pounds.

The reason for the sale was the Kilmoreys had been Royalists during the Civil War. Following severe financial losses they had little choice but to sell the estate. In 1678, William Swettenham sold it at a loss for just 1,800 pounds to Rev. William Harrison.

It passed through three generations of this family until the death of Strethill Harrison in 1801. It was during this time that the 'Cranage Enclosure Act' of 1780 saw 800 acres of Rudheath Common increase the landholding of the Cranage Hall estate.

In 1814 Cranage Hall was sold to the Rev. John Armistead, incumbent of Goostrey. He had already acquired some land in the Cranage area from his first marriage to Catherine Fenton, daughter and co-heir to John Fenton of Bently in Strattfordshire.

Three of the Armisteads were clergymen associated with the Sandbach area, preaching continuously from 1828-1941 and also at various times within the villages of Holmes Chapel and Goostrey.

In 1920, cotton manufacturer William Oswald Carver purchased The Cranage Estate for 33,655 pounds. The new owners daughter-in-law, Betty Carver, met Major Bernard Montgomery (Monty) in 1927 whilst on holiday in Switzerland. They fell in love and married soon after. They had a son, David, in 1928.

Later in life, David, became 'Viscount Montgomery of Alamein'. Carver put up the Hall for public auction in 1927 with a reserve price of 27,385 pounds.

In 1929 Cranage Hall was sold to 'The Cheshire Joint Board for the Mentally Defective.' Further lots were purchased by the board during the 1930's and the Hall had beds for 62 patients. In 1948 the establishment of the new National Health Service saw control pass to Cranage Hall Hospital Management Committee and the hospital housed over 500 patients at its peak. The facility closed in 1995 and was offered up for sale once again.

Hayley Conference Centres bought Cranage Hall in 1997 for 500,000 pounds. Planning permission was granted for 10million pound residential conference centre that was completed in 1998. During 2002 Cranage Hall increased its room numbers from 120 to 150 - then in 2011 added the "Byley Suite" which increased the room numbers to 151.