The Plague House, Latchford by Dorothea Rowlinson

The Warrington Guardian reported The Plague House had been owned by Richard Warburton, who had married Ann Domville at St Mary's in Lymm in June 1649.

According to Gaskells Notilia, he was a benefactor of the poor in Appleton. The building was originally known as Round Step House.  It was two storeys high and split into four dwellings, with a part timbered front and an old flag and slate roof, and to access the rear gate you needed to cross skipping stones in the stream.

"For plague, no real remedy or solution was available. There was no means of escape," wrote Alan Crosby, in A History of Warrington.  The outbreak cannot be dated, but it was probably in the early 1650s and the date became associated with 1656 because of the gable inscription. The plague stone' which now rests in Warrington Museum, was also removed from the sandstone wall.  Like similar stones from isolation houses, it had a shallow dip where disinfected money was left in vinegar, so passers-by could leave food and could safely take the coins without fear of infection.

The house became renowned and was recognised by the Illustrated London News for its architectural value, and investigators from the National Monument Record visited the site.  But, in 1936,  the Borough Council decided the run-down property should be closed and a decision was taken to demolish it in 1957.