Editing Gawsworth Old Hall (section)

==History==
The original house on the site dated from the [[History of England#Norman England|Norman era]].<ref name=ghhist>{{Citation |url=http://www.gawsworthhall.com/history.html |title=A Brief History of Gawsworth Hall |access-date=22 February 2011 |publisher=Gawsworth Hall |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711080217/http://www.gawsworthhall.com/history.html |archive-date=11 July 2011}}</ref> The earliest documentary reference is the granting of a licence for the administration of a chapel within the house in 1365. The house was then owned by Thomas Fitton, who had inherited it by marriage in 1316, and it remained in the possession of the Fitton family until 1611. The original house was replaced in the 15th and 16th&nbsp;centuries.<ref name=fig>{{Harvnb|de Figueiredo|Treuherz|1988|pp=99–102.}}</ref> Building started in 1480,<ref name=ghhist/> and continued in stages until about 1600. Since then, parts of the house have been demolished, and others have been considerably altered. It is considered by the architectural historians Peter de&nbsp;Figueiredo and Julian Treuherz that the site of the house was originally [[moat]]ed, and that its plan was that of a quadrangle, forming a courtyard house.<ref name=fig/>

In 1579 the house was inherited by [[Edward Fitton the younger|Sir Edward Fitton III]] on the death of his father, [[Edward Fitton (the elder)|Sir Edward Fitton II]]. Sir Edward III was the father of Mary Fitton, a [[maid of honour]] to [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]] and a candidate for the "Dark Lady" of Shakespeare's sonnets.<ref name=fig/> Following the death of Sir&nbsp;Edward Fitton, 2nd&nbsp;Baronet in 1643,<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/baronetage/baronetsF1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501225101/http://www.leighrayment.com/baronetage/baronetsF1.htm |archive-date=May 1, 2008 |title=The Baronetage of England, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Great Britain and the United Kingdom |access-date=22 February 2011 |url-status=usurped |publisher=Leigh Rayment}}</ref> the estate passed to [[Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield|Charles Gerard]], later the first [[Earl of Macclesfield]].<ref name=fig/> There was a dispute about the legal ownership of the estate between Sir&nbsp;Charles and his cousin [[Alexander Fitton]], which was resolved in Sir Charles's favour in 1663.<ref name=ghhist/> Demolition of parts of the house took place in about 1700, and it is thought by de&nbsp;Figueiredo and Treuherz that the west range was removed, possibly including the [[gatehouse]]. At the beginning of the 18th&nbsp;century the dispute between the Fittons and the Gerards resurfaced, culminating in a duel in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], London, in 1712 between the rival claimants: [[Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun|Lord Mohun]], from the Gerard family, and the [[James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton|4th&nbsp;Duke of Hamilton]], from the Fittons. Both of the combatants were killed. The estate remained with the Gerards, until it was bought by [[William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington|William Stanhope]], who later became the first [[Earl of Harrington]], and it remained with this family until 1935. The house was owned by the Cheshire antiquary Raymond Richards until his death in 1978. Richards collected items from historic buildings that were being demolished in the 1960s, either incorporating them into the house or displaying them in the grounds.<ref name=fig/> The house is still owned and run by the Richards family.<ref name=home>{{Citation |url=http://www.gawsworthhall.com/index.html |title=Welcome to Gawsworth Hall, a lived in historic house |access-date=22 February 2011 |publisher=Gawsworth Hall |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711080337/http://www.gawsworthhall.com/index.html |archive-date=11 July 2011}}</ref>