Architecture
The mansion house has four gables to the front and a two-gabled wing to the left-hand side; its plan resembles the nearby Dorfold Hall. The roof is tiled, with two prominent brick chimney stacks. There are two storeys with an attic, with both the first and second floors overhanging the floor beneath to form jetties, a typical feature of timber-framed town houses of this date. The protruding floor joists are concealed by plaster coving built up over shaped brackets and laths, in a fashion described by Pevsner as a "speciality of Cheshire".
The upper storeys have ornamental panels featuring several different decorative motifs, including roundels and diagonal ogee braces. The eaves have corbel brackets with carvings including human faces and animals. These include a lion, ape and devil, as well as a salamander, supposed to give protection against fire. Gilded carvings of Richard and Margerye Churche are located above the main entrance, on either side. The timbers bear carpenters' marks with both Roman and Arabic numerals, some being unusually long. The highly decorated style is typical of the timber-framed buildings of the Elizabethan period.
The windows are predominantly mullioned and transomed, with three to five lights including some stained glass panels. Only the window above the porch is possibly original; some casements date from the 18th century, and several are 20th-century replacements. Two windows have inscriptions beneath them: one inscription gives the date of construction and is quoted previously; the other states "The roote of Wysedom is to Feare God, & the branch thereof shall too endure."
Read more about this topic: Churche's Mansion
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