Frodsham Blue Plaque Walking Tour – Route & Building notes In London, the Blue Plaque (BP) Scheme has been running for >140 years. Plaques commemorate the link between notable people & buildings. That’s not necessarily the case in Frodsham, as you will discover. Frodsham became a town in 1992 & adopted the bee as its emblem, that appears on all 30 Frodsham BPs. • The first 6 BPs are attributed to The Frodsham Society, an organisation formed in the 1960s that was active until 1997… • 20 BPs were erected under the Frodsham Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme (HERS) – a jointly-funded 3-year grant spent on environmental improvements between 2002 & 2005. • A single BP is associated with the adoption of Frodsham (Town) Conservation Area Appraisal in 2006. That is number 01 on the walk. • The 3 most recent BPs are on properties in Castle Park & were instigated by Frodsham & District History Society.
Route – Begin in station car park & walk towards Blue Hatch. Turn left at the top of the footpath & cross railway footbridge. Continue on the footpath to The Rock, High St. Turn right to Trinity Church spire (01). Retrace steps & proceed to traffic lights (02-05). Cross to The Bear’s Paw (06) & continue beyond Marsh Lane to Millstone House (07-15). Cross to the S-side of Main St. Continue under the railway & enter Castle Park to see 3 more BPs. Exit via Fountain Lane to Main St. & walk back towards the traffic lights (16-24). Turn right up Church St (25 & 26). Cross to Station Approach & walk up to the garden of the former Stationmaster’s House (27). You have now seen all of Frodsham’s Blue Plaques. Use the footbridge to view the refurbished station & complete the walk. BP property 01.Trinity spire
Stop opp. 02.Old Library
03.Old Cottage 04.Fishermen’s Cottage 05.Crosbie House Cross to 06.Bear’s Paw
07.Cottage Teashop 08.Thatched Cottages 09.Old Hall
10.Town PO 11.Main Street Community Church – the ‘Iron Church’ or ‘Tin Tabernacle’
12.Ashley House
13.53-57 Main St 14.47-51 Main St
History & heritage notes Church built 1873 – in local sandstone – in the Victorian Gothic style. Partially demolished in 1970s. Frodsham Society launched a successful Save Our Spire campaign. Brick Wesleyan chapel built 1837 soon after High St was graded. Chapel closed in 1937 – became the Library after WW2 until 2013. Now apartments. Dates from 1580 – 2 oak-framed cottages now 1. –includes a cruckframed one-room cottage typical of the medieval period. Properties recently modernised & individualised. Built c.1760 by Wm Crosbie in the symmetrical Georgian style. Built 1632 as a coaching inn & posting house – the coat of arms of Earl Rivers of the Savage family is above the main door – the crest being a bear’s paw. 1850s – Bear’s Paw & Railway Hotel; 1904 – stone mullion windows restored. Built 1628 as 3 oak-framed cottages. In 1908 it became a chip shop. Separately built oak-framed cottages – 89 the oldest. Wm Harrison, carpenter, built 85 & brother Thomas, joiner, built 83. 2 oak-framed 17C cottages given a new façade in early 19C ‘Ty Gwyn’ (White House). It was a private residence into the 20C. Request to see tide stones beyond the garden. Became Frodsham’s first PO in 1850 & was relocated to the current premises in 1900. The ‘Iron Church’ was built from a ‘flat-pack’ delivered to Frodsham station in 1870s. It became St Dunstan’s, a Chapel of Ease, but acted as the Parish Church 1880-82 whilst St Laurence’s was restored. The bell is said to be a replica of a bell from Brunel’s Great Eastern ship that was broken up on Tranmere Beach. In 1995 the church was moved 3m closer to Ashley House to create Chapelfields. It is one of the best surviving examples of a ‘Tin Tabernacle’. A classical Georgian house built c.1830 by Robert Wainwright Ashley, a successful lawyer & son of Daniel Ashley, owner of Park Place (now Castle Park House). 17C oak-framed cottages – separately restored in the early 1980s – 55 has an inglenook. 17C oak-framed cottages on a coursed sandstone base – restored in