Local historian Nick Colley reveals the fascinating story behind a piece of Northwich's architectural history

“We are fortunate enough to live in a town with a wealth of history, a town that is constantly evolving, and creating a new history for itself, but a town that residents living here a century ago wouldn't recognise.

“If you take a walk down the High Street you will come across the HSBC bank, just as you would in many towns, but look a little closer, yes, there is the usual plate glass windows and behind those a selection of cash dispensers, but look up above these to the first floor windows then higher still.

“Perched high above the street is a stone carving - it features a strange scene, an eagle with its wings spread is standing over a small child held in its talons.

“Quite a disturbing scene, but why is it there, what does it mean?

“To find the answer we have to look back in time to discover what the building was before it became a bank.

“In the late 18th century this location on the High Street was occupied by a public house. It was brick built and had a first floor window that jutted out over the street.

“This pub was the ‘Eagle & Child’ - on the front alongside a passageway to the rear was a stone carved depiction of the pub’s name.

“The name originates from the crest of The Earl of Derby which depicts a winged creature standing over a baby. The Earl of Derby at one time owned the Manor of Northwich.

“As the original pub was constructed from brick it eventually suffered the way most town centre buildings did, and by 1894 it was beyond repair and had to be rebuilt, in 1896 the new timber-framed 'Eagle and Child' opened.

“The builders remounted the unusual stonework high up on the front of the new building.

“At this time most new Northwich buildings were built using a timber frame. This was designed to combat the threat of subsidence. Instead of cracking and collapsing this new style of timber frame just tilted into the subsiding land and the resultant hole was then filled in and the timber frame was just lifted back up straight again.

“The photographs show how in the early part of the 20th century the Eagle and Child was lifted to a much higher position. Bricklayers are filling in the gaps in the frame with new brickwork.

“You can see how much higher the doors are compared to the road level, but this was just the first phase. Once all the buildings were lifted to the new height, the road levels were then brought up to meet the doors. A process locally known as 'The Big Lift’.

“The ‘Eagle & Child’ closed as a public house in 1939 but was soon taken over and converted into the Midland Bank, which in turn became HSBC as we know it today.

Local historian Nick Colley is chairman of Northwich and District Heritage Society, which holds local history talks and produce local history publications.

Nick manages the Facebook group ‘Northwich History Past & Present’.