Neston Town Trail
Page 4
No 7 On the right hand side opposite the Green, are a number of 18th century houses, the oldest of which bears a date
plate 1724 (pictured).
This house stood alone until about 1790, when the house on the right hand end of the row was built to form the Plough Inn, which remained until the early 1900s. The other houses to the left, were also added about 1790.
The backs of these houses form an interesting medley; they can be seen from Poplar Weint, an alley accessed up the side of no. 20 Park Street, the last of the row on the left.
No 8 This leads to what was the Infant School, a sandstone building c. 1859, now converted to apartments. Note the interesting roof slate pattern. Return to Park Street and turn down Buggen Lane, which runs down between high sandstone walls.
A buggen (in Welsh, bwgan) is a ghost – it must be very ancient, as no memory of it has survived! This road was once part of the southern boundary of Neston Park which enclosed a deer park about 1250 and which gave Parkgate its name.
No 9 The name of the house and grounds on the left hand side of the lane, called Townfield, is a reminder that in medieval times and until some 200 years ago, the land there was a town field divided into many narrow, unfenced strips. Various towns’ people would have used these for cultivating crops or raising poultry or pigs.
No 10 At the bottom of the land on the corner opposite stands the United Reform Church, which was built as a Presbyterian church in 1884, designed by Francis Doyle who also rebuilt the Parish Church. To the right of the church stands the Manse, which is a listed building. Continue up the hill towards the town centre.
No 11 The first house on the right is Moorside House, with a handsome shell canopy over the front door. You may notice ‘Glanrhos’ carved on the gate piers; a former resident preferred the Welsh version of Moorside.
Further up the hill on the same side, the brick wall bears a plaque, which commemorates the old Methodist chapel, where John Wesley himself preached in 1762, “in small house they have just built”. When the present Methodist Church at the top of the High Street was opened in 1908, many visitors to the ceremony went to look at the old chapel, which by then was being used as a barn.
