The Old Medicine House at Goostrey
During a walk I led through the Goostrey area early in 2019 we ‘stumbled’ upon some signs pointing to ‘The Blackden Trust’. On closer inspection, the track led up to an attractive old half timbered building.
Some research afterwards found this to be a local ‘hidden gem’, a re-located Tudor House tucked away in the Cheshire countryside on land which had been inhabited for ten thousand years.
After some enquiries ,Brain Griffiths and I decided toorganise a visit to this house during the summer months, which as it turned out proved so popular that in the end we organised three trips which included a short morning walk locally followed by a visit and conducted tour on what is called The Old Medicine House and the surrounding gardens followed by afternoon refreshments. Thankfully, the weather was fine for all three visits.
The Old Medicine House belongs to The Blackden Trust, a registered charitable trust, founded by Alan and Griselda Garner and their friend, Patsy Roynon.
Our visit was to The Old Medicine House and its gardens. The building which was originally at Wrinehill, southeast of Crewe was due for demolition back in 1970 despite it being a Grade II building. The building was rescued by Alan Garner who bought the house for £1. It was dismantled and rebuilt adjacent to the historic half timbered Toad Hall, where the Garner family has lived since 1957.
The building is a three bay timber-frame structure and dates from around the early 16th century. Our tour started with a short slide show depicting the construction and history of the house before we were split into smaller groups where volunteer guides showed us around the rooms giving us a detailed insight into the history of each room including items which have been discovered in the re-building of the house and these included mason marks and marks made in the woodwork to protect the house.
In one room there was a display of items found on the surrounding land which indicated that area has had human occupation for ten thousand years. After the tour, the group enjoyed afternoon tea and coffee with locally made cakes in the marquee in the garden to round off a very interesting day.
May I also thank Tony Littler who kindly organised the third tour and led the walk prior. In all we had sixty members of the group that visited The Blackden Trust during the three visits. If you missed out and would like to go on a tour then go to their website where there are occasional tours for the general public.
For details of this fascinating local ‘hidden gem’ go to www.theblackdentrust.org.uk
Rear of The Old Medicine House & rescued Saxon cross shaft.
Afternoon refreshments being enjoyed in the garden at The Old Medicine House.