Ford House, Prestbury

From the church tower, 1880	A landmark building	From the road, August 2011

Ford House is across the road from the Bridge Hotel, at the north-eastern end of the village street. Although not a listed building it used to have a pleasing appearance and was an important component of the Conservation Area. On 14 October 2010 it was included in a list of Cheshire East’s most distinguished buildings.

The predecessor of Ford House was a 16^th or early 17^th century cottage whose occupier may have had duties relating to the ford across the River Bollin. In 1850 it was an inn, the Roebuck. During the 19^th and 20^th centuries it was rebuilt and extended as a private house. Dr Thomas Goodier Richmond FRCS lived there after his retirement from active practice in Manchester until his death on 17 December 1887. He was a churchwarden and donor of four of the church windows,

In 1964 Ford House was acquired by the Church and in about 1980 a single storey extension was added for use by the Youth Club. The Youth Club extension was redecorated in 1996. As part of the redecoration, a local resident painted a mural based on a local scene on one wall (width 340cm, height 285cm).

Ford House had three meeting rooms, two store rooms, two kitchens and a coffee bar on the ground floor and the large meeting room for the Youth Club. On the first floor were seven offices, a store room and a “studio” large enough for occupancy by 50 persons.

It had a lawned garden area and a large tarmacadamed car park with mature trees.

For over forty years Ford House was used for church offices, choir rehearsals, PCC meetings, coffee mornings, study groups and meetings of church organisations as well as for a number of community activities such as adult education classes, keep-fit classes, children’s ballet classes and the Youth Club. At various times small businesses had used it for commercial purposes. The car park was an invaluable supplement to the public parking in the village.

Regrettably, Ford House had been allowed to fall into disrepair. The roof in particular was in a dangerous state. It could no longer meet the requirements of a growing Church and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) decided at the beginning of 2007 that it should be sold with a view to using the proceeds to provide more suitable facilities – but without dedicated parking – on the church side of the road.

Ford House was closed in May 2007. A purchaser had agreed to buy it, but the sale fell through in February 2009. There were plans to rebuild it (without provision for a youth club) as part of a development project presented at a church meeting on 11 July 2010. The plans were revised in December 2011 but were refused by the Northern Planning Committee at a meeting held on 1 February 2012. Ford House is still disused.