The early history of the site is documented in the Archaeological Desk-based assessment
undertaken by Alison Nicholls of Stoke on Trent Archaeology, in March 2009.

Tradition has it that there was an earlier stronghold here, a motte and bailey castle, but the earliest
documentary evidence is for a fortified manor house of the thirteenth century. The form of
courtyard and towers with a separate stone keep were a castle type of the thirteenth century and
the octagonal turrets of the gatehouse and the corner towers were a particular feature of this
century. Notably there is a rare thirteenth century octagonal west tower at nearby Dilhorne Church.
Another local castle of a similar form is Eccleshall Castle (which has one nine-sided tower surviving).

The first time that there is evidence of a building on the site was when William de Caverswall
received licence to crenellate in 1275. The standing remains suggests that this was the date of the
earliest building that we find today and that he was fortifying his existing manor house, which was
probably demolished and replaced as part of the extensive works.

The thirteenth century fortified manor house was probably a collection of buildings, rather than one
large block. A stone building would have incorporated a hall and solar as well as first floor
bedchambers but it is unlikely to have looked like the Norman castle keep we imagine from an
earlier period where the solitary square tower would stand as part of the medieval curtain wall. It is
possible that the rear wall of the castle, which rises straight up from the moat, retains some of the
original stonework of the manor house, but it is not immediately apparent. The large, northern,
buttressed walls rise directly from

the moat supporting the northern staircase tower. The otherthree retaining walls to the courtyard incorporate regular, tall, stepped buttresses,
which are much more typical of the seventeenth century, and they are more consciously part of the decorative design.

The oldest phase of the present house can be seen at Lower Ground Level. However, in the
absence of a measured survey, it is difficult to unpick the phasing at this level. There are two
places where there may be evidence for masonry that predates the Smythson building of 1615-20;
the west staircase tower & the main spine wall. The west staircase tower has stonework which is
heavily buttressed. However, there are no dateable features here from before the sixteenth
century and it is possible that the buttressing was thought necessary to create a substantial footing
for the tower, particularly in view of the lack of central stone core to the staircase, found within
most Smythson buildings. In terms of construction phasing, the west tower was built shortly before
the main part of the building.

A massive masonry spine wall runs north-south through the centre of the building, corresponding
with the location of the screen passage & corridor on the upper floors. Through this wall are cut a
number of doorways connecting the east and west sides of the building. The amount of masonry
utilised in the construction of this spine wall was much more than necessary as it carried the weight
of only one narrow masonry wall separating the “Parlor” from the screen passage on the floor
above. It is possible, therefore, that some of this wall predates the Smythson phase of
construction. The doorways, however, are consistent in detail with those of the sixteenth and early
seventeenth century, with depressed arches, rebated chamfered stone surrounds & iron pintles,
which were designed to take the weight of massive strap hinges for boarded doors. The pointed
arched heads within RB3 are later adaptations of the original heads, probably Victorian, so they do
not provide dating evidence. The masonry within the southernmost passage was not off-set as the
1893 plans show – this was a draughting error. The location of two doorways slotted through the
deep masonry in such close proximity is unusual. The most logical explanation for this is that the
room or rooms served by the southern doorway needed only one access from the servants hall
(RB3) and that the northern doorway continued as an L-shaped corridor into RB1, for which the
timber stud partition wall has been removed.

The cross wall to the east, which separates the kitchen and former servants hall, was built in two
phases (a narrow gap and some masonry fill, probably for a flue, separates the two). It was built
onto this spine wall and was inserted in the early seventeenth century to create a regular floor plan.
There are therefore no positive indications of medieval stonework within the house but it is possible
that a few of the earlier walls on site were re-used where they were most useful. The octagonal
towers still retain evidence of medieval masonry in their lower stages.

The massive masonry walls separating the Bar (RB1) from the Function Room (RB2) support a
large chimney stack on the floors above. At Lower Ground Level neither of these rooms were
originally heated. This stack was probably introduced in its entirety in the seventeenth century.