FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Unfortunately this tour was cancelled due to the weather.  We are hoping to rearrange this tour within the next couple of months. 

We are priveldged to offer thirty of our members a chance to go inside this historic building.  Plese let me have your names well in advance to ensure your place on this tour.

Wardley Hall is the official residence of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, which stands in a wooded estate in Worsley, six miles west of Manchester. The Hall has been home to the Bishop of Salford since 1930 when it was gifted to the diocese, after it purchased the surrounding land for a new Catholic cemetery.

The present Hall, built by Thurstan Tyldesley, during the reign of King Edward VI (1547–1553), stands on the site of a house dating from the year 1300. The house remained in the Tyldesley family until the late 1500s.

By 1601 the Hall and its surrounding estate had come into the possession of Rogers Downes, the first Lord of Wardley. Wardley Hall remained in the possession of the Downes family for three regenerations.In the 1760 Francis, the third Duke of Bridgewater, known as the “Canal Maker”, bought Wardley and other estates in Worsley, Barton, Monton, Hindley, Westhoughton and Pemberton.

He died in 1803 and in his will left, in trust, part of the estates to his nephew the Marquis of Stafford and the remainder to the Marquis’ second son, Francis Leveson-Gower. He was created the first Earl of Ellesmere in 1846 and died in 1857. He was succeeded by his son George Granville Francis, who died only five years later in 1862. The third Earl was his son, Francis Charles Granville, who became owner of the Worsley part of the estates when the Bridgewater Trust closed in 1903 – exactly a hundred years after its creation.

In the meantime, the occupants of Wardley Hall had suffered changing fortunes and were guilty of acts of vandalism which, fortunately, were not as bad as those at many other ancient Halls. The Main Hall was divided to create smaller rooms and the ceiling was reduced by the addition of an upper floor, thus forming what is now known as the Upper Hall.

In 1894 a team of restorers carried out a cleaning-up programme. The east wing was, at this time, being used as cottages, stables, coal-house and workers’ rooms, but in 1903 the then Earl of Ellesmere had these removed to the nearby farmhouse.

In 1919 or 1920, Captain Thomas Nuttall, while still serving with the Royal Field Artillery in Germany, took over the tenancy of the Hall and in 1924 bought the Hall and estate for the sum of £5,000. However, he decided to move when the plans for the new East Lancashire Road, linking Manchester with Liverpool, showed that this pioneer motorway would cut through the estate.

When Captain Nuttall first offered the Hall and grounds to the Roman Catholics in 1928, it was felt that the finances of the diocese could not support such a transaction, but, when in 1929, it became know that the diocese was looking to buy land on the west side of Manchester for use as a cemetery, Captain Nuttall’s representatives reopened the negotiations.

Eventually, on 12th May 1930, the deal was completed, the diocese agreed to pay a price of £7,500 for the purchase of the land for the cemetery, and Captain Nuttall offered the hall and its surrounding land to the Diocese as a gift, on condition that it be maintained in keeping with its ancient and venerable state.

Since that time until the present day the Hall has been used as the residence for the bishops of the Diocese.

3pm Council Meeting by Zoom

Agenda to be produced before the meeting.

We will hold our AGM at Manchester Art Gallery on the afternoon of the 5th

More details to follow

Libby Edwardsn- Vice Chair / Hertiage Research Officer from Wythenshawe Hall is going to give a zoom talk about the Hall and family.  She will answer questions after her talk.

Confirmation and details will follow

Nicola will give a zoom talk on her subject from our 2024 Research Grant

More details to follow

As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations in 2025, Holcombe Moor Heritage Group are planning to organise a Local History Fair on Sunday 16th March 2025, at Greenmount Old School, Greenmount, Bury, BL8 4DS. The event will be a range of displays from various local history organisations and attractions and will be open to the public to find out more about the amazing local history groups, events and places in the area. We are planning for the event to run from 11.00am until 4.00pm. We will be serving light refreshments and are hoping to have a stall selling books about history. Exhibitors may also sell their publications if available. The event will be widely publicised and we are hoping it will attract a large number of visitors interested in finding out more about local history. We are hoping to have up to forty exhibitors.

Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society - Annual Fair

Zoom talk b y Mike Nevell on Lindow Man

Hoghton Tower is an historic landmark in Preston, Lancashire.  This talk given by Steve Spencer follows on from an aritcle he wrote in Transactions 114.  Our Researtch Grant in 2024 was awarded to Jane Smith for her work on the project which saught to deepen our understanding of the North Entrance to the tower where it is believed a chapel predating 1565 once stood.  The talk will report of the findings of that project.

We are hoping to follow on with a visit for members in Sewptember 2025.

We are hoping to have a tour of Hoghton Tower during September

Following on from our visit to Hoghton Tower we are hoping to arrange a Zoom talk.

Anne is a member of our society and has a published book Thomas Tyldesley and the Lancashire Plot.  Details of the book can be found in our Publications section.