Adjacent to the Stafford Arms and previously known as the "Clergy House" St. Chad's House is a listed building and forms part of the same range as the pub. A date on a beam suggests it was built in 1603.
The building was once the rectory to St. Chad's Church (just across the road), and was then owned by the Owen family whose descendants were the patrons of the Parish of Bucknall-cum-Bagnall. The Reverend Samuel Hubert Owen is buried in the churchyard. (Rev. Owen was the son of Alfred Owen of Wood Hey, Wrexham, an industrialist who was to found the motor car components firm of Rubery Owen).
The building was substantially remodelled in in the 19th century when
its roof was raised and the upper windows were repositioned. The porch
and unusual stone-roofed bay were also added at this time. In 1892,
the property was described as being in good repair and was lived in
by Thomas Bevington Esquire.
The shield, crest and motto on the outside is of the Owen family. It is written in Welsh and reads: "What Owen has he holds". An inscription reads "St. Ciead 1808".
This is suggestive of nineteenth century additions as indeed is the
reference in Kelly's Directory of 1880 to the wainscoting of the large
dining room being made of the discarded pews from Bagnall Church.
The room may once have been called the "Oak Room" (but is not now so called by the current owner) - and perceptive observers have noticed that marks "are still visible where nameplates were affixed".
During the Civil War a small part of Cromwell's Army was billeted in the village.
The main room of the house was used by them as an armoury and stones on either side of the fireplace show wear caused by the sharpening of swords. Above the fireplace is an original carving "Feare Godde, Honoure ye Kynge".
From Bagnall the soldiers went to fight a battle three miles away. After the litter on the fields was mainly of arms and heads, which gives Armshead its name.
The building has three stories, the former cellar now being used as a kitchen.
St. Chad's Cottage next door has been a village smithy and a cafe.
A right of way through the former gardens of the two houses has grown from a path into a main road through the village.
Details on this page page were extracted from "Bagnall - on the Fringe of the Moorlands", and "Bagnall Chestnut Trees Centenary". See acknowledgments on the Resources Page