Sweetbriar Hall

Sweetbriar Hall was built for the Woodhey branch of the Wilbraham family, later associated with the country mansions of Woodhey Hall and Dorfold Hall. One of the leading Nantwich families, they had owned land in the town since the 14th century. It was known as Sweetbriar Hall in the Elizabethan era. some sources, however, estimate it as late 15th century to early 16th century. The appearance of the building is typical early Elizabethan, that is mid-16th century. Hospital Street was the main road between London and Chester; the medieval St Nicholas Hospital, which gave the street its name, remained in use until 1548. Sweetbriar Hall would originally have stood at the eastern edge of the…

Sweetbriar Hall is located at numbers 65 and 67 on the north side of Hospital Street (). The hall is a timber-framed, black-and-white, two-storey building under a tiled roof. One cross wing (east) would have been the parlour, the other (west) the service wing, including a buttery and kitchen. The projecting pentagonal wing was added to the end of the central hall in the late 16th or early 17th century. Curved braces forming concave-sided diamonds are also present; The ornamental panelling is not carried to the rear of the west face, presumably for cost reasons. Close studding with a middle rail is used on the back half of the west face, as well as parts of the Hospital Street façade. The…