Sweetbriar Hall

Sweetbriar Hall is a half-timbered, Grade II listed mansion house in Hospital Street; numbers 65-67. The hall has an early Elizabethan exterior. It is one of the few buildings to survive the great fire of Nantwich in 1583, which destroyed the adjacent buildings entirely.

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The hall was built for the Woodhey branch of the Wilbraham family. The original date is probably 15th century, and the hall is often considered the oldest half-timbered building in the town not to have been encased in brick.

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By the mid 20th century, Sweetbriar Hall had fallen into a state of dilapidation. The hall was restored in the 1960s by James Edleston and is still in use today.

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Scientist and philosopher Joesph Priestley is believed to have occupied Sweetbriar Hall from 1758 to 1761, opening a school within the building.

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At the back of Sweetbriar Hall is a red brick building (dating from around 1701) which some think was the school. The building bears his name today...

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Our natural pink gin, Sweet Briar, is a nod to Sweetbriar Hall and Joseph Priestley's scientific contributions. You'll notice that the number 38 is present on the label - this refers to the alcohol by volume percentage, as opposed to Sweetbriar Hall's location. The gin also refers to wild bramble thickets, with a subtle link to herbalist John Gerard's love of roses.

 

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