A Brief History of TARVIN HALL

1752 Tarvin fire destroyed what was probably the second building on this site.
1776 The present Hall was possibly already built, as this date is carved on one of the roof timbers.
The Hall was let to various tenants and used for boarding boys from The Grammar School, next to the parish church.
1842 John Brindley leased the Hall for £120 a year from Charles Dean whose 12 year old stepdaughter Louisa Panton was the owner. Brindley's aim was to open "The Chester School- for the education of 100 resident pupils, preparing them by special instruction for The University, The Medical Profession, The Law, The Sea and for Mercantile Pursuits"
Fees were 40 guineas for Under 12 and 50 guineas for 12 to 16 year olds.
1844 Brindley's school became called "Tarvin Hall School"
1851 The school was renamed "The Collegiate School", and a separate lower school was built opposite the church (This building was later called the Manor House.) In the census returns for Tarvin Hall, Dr. Brindley listed twelve domestic staff, six teaching staff and 90 boys (from all over Great Britain and Ireland), besides his wife, 5 sons and 3 daughters, his sister, his nephew and his brother-in-law who was Vice Principal of the school.
1852 The owners gave Brindley notice to quit, objecting to structural alterations made to the hall. He took his school to Abbot's Grange, Chester. The Prep. school in Lower Hall remained until 1855 when it moved to Parkgate. Brindley was declared Bankrupt.
1855 to 1890 Various schools occupied The Hall. There was a Girls school run by Giles and Kerr. In 1871 Griffith Jones B.A. had a small school for boys and in1874/5 James Carter had a school there.
1890 The hall was now owned by Samuel Davies.
1891 The census shows a girls school run by Mrs Annie Walker who was a doctor's widow. She was assisted by Miss Annie Kingston. There were day pupils and 5 boarders. These girls were recognisable as "ladies , in the best sense of the word"
1900 After Mrs Walker retired, Annie Kingston and her sister Hannah took over the School ,which later moved to The Flaggs.
1905 There is some confusion as to who occupied the Hall at this point. Dr J.E. Moreton , who had been a pupil of Dr. Brindley in 1846 moved from Kelsall. His obituary in 1914 states that he died in the Hall but he may have been living in The Lodge or Rode House.
1906 The Radcliffe family moved into The Lodge at the rear of the Hall until 1911 when they moved to Pool Bank.
1914 C.P. Hunter had bought (in 1905) and was now living in the Hall. He had the 1st steam-powered car in the village and widened the drive.
1920 The Hon. Marshall Brooks Of Portal bought the Hall for his son, Thomas, on his marriage. The wrought iron gates bear the family initials. Mrs. Brookes helped introduce the W.I. to the village. The grounds were rented out and held G.B.Radcliffe's horses. A groom's house was built on Hockenhull Lane.
1939 Archibald Egerton Dale now lived in the Hall. The Hall fields were used for grazing cows
and for growing tomatoes and chrysanthemums in glass houses. After Mr.Dale's death his sister Queenie continued to live in the Hall.
1960 Mr Shone , who was a builder, bought the Hall and he lived here with his family for about 10 years. He built a swimming pool in the grounds and started to build the housing estate on his land (Hallfields road). For the next 20 years the building spread further and further across the adjacent fields of Tarvin. It still continues in 2015.
1973 The Hall was again vacant and was bought by Dr. John Orrell Knowles, a G.P. in Kelsall. This saved the Hall from demolition. Mrs. Knowles made attractive pottery in the cellar.
1989 Dr. Knowles retired and moved away from Tarvin. The Hall was bought and converted
into a residential home for elderly people. After the home closed it was empty for many years.
2010/11 In December 2010 the Hall was sold at auction but shortly after that lead was stolen from the roof and the Hall was auctioned again in October 2011. A new roof and much work followed to provide a home and several apartments. It is good to see Tarvin Hall coming back into full use.