It was formerly called Chorlton Hall, from the fact of it having been for
several centuries the residence and property of the family of Chorlton,
who were Lords of Powis. The exact time of its erection is unknown, but
in the year 1326 it was held by John de Charlton, who, by the permission
of Edward II., fortified it with an embattled stone wall. It fell into a
ruinous state, and remained neglected until it was purchased about 1830
by Mr. Henry Bennett, who raised it, and then erected upon the site the
existing theatre. The exterior, adorned in its three niches with statues
of Shakespeare and of the comic and tragic muse, has a neat appearance,
and the interior is admirably adapted for dramatic purposes.
By way of contrast to the theatre is the WESLEYAN CHAPEL, which stands on
the right about the centre of St. Johns Hill, and a few yards higher up
is another building formerly a chapel, “hid from view” in a passage,
built for the Quakers in 1746, but now used as a meeting place for the
Atcham Board of Guardians. Leaving, however, an inspection of these we
cross the road from the theatre and walk down