Brereton Hall

During the Norman Conquest the land taken from the Saxon holders was divided among the companions of William the Conqueror. Each division of land was called a barony and were granted to the knights. Gilbert de Venables owned the Barony of Kinderton which consisted of six dependencies one of which was Astbury which contained Brereton. This is evidenced in the Domesday Book.

Through out the history of the family you will see many family members named William who were named after William the Conqueror. It seems that each male in the family would name one of his sons William. This makes things complicated when trying to determine the genealogy.

A description of Brereton is given in George Ormerod’s history of Cheshire,
“Breerton standeth upon the London Way, two miles north from Sandbach, and hath yearly a Fair, which is held on Breerton Green on Lammasday, being the first day of August, (when the lambs are taken away from the ewes). Not far off is the Parish Church of Breerton, and near unto the church the goodly Manor Place, newly builded (1586), all of brick; the like whereof is not in all the country again. Therefore, it is not to be omitted, and not so much for the buildings as for the number of ancient and valiant knights and gentlemen who had, and have, their origin from thence.”

Brereton Hall is located on a slope on the bank of the stream Croco,which collected into a lake known as Blackmere or Brereton’s Lake.

In Sir Philip Sydney’s “Seven Wonders of England,” are the following lines,

“The Breretons have a lake, which, when the sun
Approaching warms (not else), dead logs up sends
From hideous depth,. which tribute when it ends,
Sore sign it is the Lord’s last thread is spun.”

This is because there is an old legend that claims that on the night of the beheading of William Brereton the lake threw up black logs from the bottom.

Queen Elizabeth laid the foundation stone of Brereton Hall because she remained connected to the Brereton family because William had stood by her mother’s interests even to his own death.

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