Ever wondered how Frodsham's Castle Park acquired such a grand and imposing name?

Where the house now stands, there really was once a 'castle', but the history of this building is hazy, moulded out of shape by a series of fabrications and untruths.

This is perhaps unsurprising, as the words 'Frodsham Castle' immediately conjure images of a huge fortification with thick walls, crenellated parapets and maybe even a moat.

However, the real castle is more likely to have been a mere mound of earth topped with wooden defences. There is no record of an application to add battlements to the building, and so it is unlikely that it was a permanent stone structure.

The aggrandised idea of the building that might spring to people's minds is the fault of a 1727 etching by brothers, Samuel and Nathaniel Buck, who employed a certain...poetic licence with their artworks.

This particular image reflects a fanciful depiction of Frodsham Castle, which appears either to be suspended in mid air or built on the marshes – not the most practical setting for a defensive fortress!

The Buck brothers also created an etching of Vale Royal, which reveals a similar departure from reality.

The real 'castle' stood at the foot of Overton Hill, on what is now the Castle Park site, and was probably a wooden manor house built in the 11th century by Hugh Lupus, the first Norman Earl of Chester (1071-1101).

The castle was strategically placed on the route between Runcorn and Wales, and the site may have been chosen because of the plentiful water supply from Synagogue Well and the surrounding streams.

After 1237 and the death of the last Earl, John the Scot, the land was returned to the Crown and fell into disrepair.

The manor house that had stood at the top of the castle mound was reported to have collapsed between 1357-8, and an individual called Nicholas the carpenter was paid the tidy sum of £12 to build 'the New Hall of Frodsham'.

Between 1540 and 1640, English stonemasons and carpenters were busy with the 'Great Rebuilding', where houses across the country were improved and developed.

This period is the first time that we see any references to Frodsham Castle, a title which is likely to refer to some particularly impressive renovations on the manor house, rather than the construction of a real fortress.

In 1611, the manor and the lordship were bought by Sir Thomas Savage of Clifton, whose son, John, then became Earl Rivers. Perhaps John, filled with self-importance by this prestigious title, decided to retain the Frodsham Castle name, to lend his manor house a certain distinction.

The origins of the Frodsham Castle name became irrelevant, however, on October 10th 1654, when the castle was destroyed by fire.

Earlier that same night, the Earl Rivers, who was hated by his tenants and accused of being a Royalist by Parliament during the Civil War, had died at the age of 48.

Rumour had it that the two events were no coincidence...

The ruined house was then passed between owners, until it was sold to local solicitor Daniel Ashley around 1750. The Ashley family then demolished the ruins and built Park Place in their place.

Excavations carried out on the foundations of the new house uncovered an ancient lantern, a canon ball and several coffins. It was believed that the cellar walls may have formed part of the old manor house foundations.

In 1851, Joseph Stubbs of Warrington bought, refashioned and extended the manor, creating the house that you see today. It was named Castle Park by Edward Abbott Wright, when he bought the estate in 1861.

Many thanks to Sheila Holroyd for her extremely informative article on the history of Frodsham Castle, and to Gill Baxter from Frodsham and District History Society