Agecroft | |
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Location | 4305 Sulgrave Road, Richmond, Virginia |
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Coordinates | 37°33′10″N77°30′23″W / 37.55278°N 77.50639°W |
Area | 23.1 acres (9.3 ha) |
Built | 1926 |
Architect | Henry G. Morse (restoration) Charles Gillette (landscape) |
Architectural style | Tudor-Tudor Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 78003186 [1] |
VLR No. | 127-0223 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 13, 1978 |
Designated VLR | July 18, 1978 [2] |
Agecroft Hall is a Tudor manor house and estate located at 4305 Sulgrave Road on the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The manor house was built in the late 15th century, and was originally located in the Irwell Valley at Agecroft, Pendlebury, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England, but by the 20th century it was unoccupied and in a state of disrepair.
Thomas C. Williams, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia, a wealthy entrepreneur, purchased Agecroft Hall upon the advice of his architect, Henry G. Morse. During the Country Place Era, when many wealthy American families were building extensive country estates emulating those they had seen in Europe, Williams, whose business interests included tobacco, banking, and shipping, wished to build a true English manor house on his 23-acre estate overlooking the James River. Agecroft was dismantled, crated, transported across the Atlantic, and reconstructed in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood – then a fashionable new neighborhood being developed by Williams on his family farm site, which had long been known as "Windsor".
The architect, Morse, was retained to oversee the reconstruction. The intention was not to replicate Agecroft as it had stood in Lancashire, but rather to create a functional and comfortable mansion reminiscent of its English predecessor. The original floor plan was abandoned and many 20th century conveniences were included. Reconstruction took two years and cost approximately $250,000, and the project was completed during the spring of 1928.
Williams died the following year, having stipulated in his will that upon his widow's death or relocation, Agecroft Hall would become a house museum. [3]
The hall was one of three manor houses owned by the Prestwich family from 1292 when Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, granted land on the banks of the River Irwell in Lancashire to Adam de Prestwich. In 1350, Johanna de Tetlow, daughter of Alice de Prestwich and Jordan de Tetlow, married Richard de Langley of Middleton after the deaths of her parents and brothers – possibly from the plague. The name "Agecroft", meaning "field of wild celery" (from ache and croft) was adopted circa 1376, the old name of Pendlebury being dropped for the manor but not for the village. Subsequently, the Langleys lived at Agecroft Hall until 1561 when the male line failed. [4] The Langleys were a powerful local family for several centuries with major land holdings across the area.
Robert Langley was the last male heir of the Langleys. The first Robert Langley (1379–1446) was a ward of John of Gaunt and later supported the claim of Gaunt's son as Henry IV in the overthrow of King Richard II. The second Robert Langley (1462–1547) supported Henry VII and received a lifetime annuity from him. And yet another Robert Langley (1506–1561) was granted a knighthood by Edward VI and later received a general pardon from Queen Elizabeth. By this time the Langleys were very prosperous and had intermarried with all the great Lancashire families. But Sir Robert and his wife Cecily de Trafford had no son and on his death the property was divided equally between his four daughters. Dorothy, the eldest, married James Assheton from Chadderton. Margaret married John Reddish of Reddish. Catherine married Thomas Legh, a younger son of Sir Piers Legh of Lyme. Anne, his third daughter inherited Agecroft Hall as part of her portion and subsequently married William Dauntesey.
Richard Langley's brother, William (1315-1386) was Rector of Middleton. Another brother, was the grandfather of Bishop Thomas Langley who entered the service of John of Gaunt and became Lord Chancellor of England, Keeper of the Privy Seal and Bishop of Durham. He was also elected a Cardinal, but refused the appointment. Bishop Thomas paid for the rebuilding of St Leonard's Church, Middleton, which was reconsecrated in 1412. [5]
In the 1662 Hearth Tax returns, Agecroft Hall was recorded as having 11 hearths out of a total of 35 in the whole of Pendlebury. [6]
At the end of the 19th century, industrialisation swept through the Irwell Valley. Coal pits were opened all around Agecroft Hall, railway tracks were cut across the manor and mining subsidence above the Clifton Hall Colliery made a dirty lake on the edge of the estate. The house fell into disrepair and was sold at auction in 1925 to Mr & Mrs Thomas C. Williams. Today, Agecroft Hall stands re-created on the banks of the James River, in a setting chosen to be reminiscent of its original site at Agecroft near the River Irwell. [7] Agecroft's grounds reflect English gardens with Elizabethan aromatics and were designed by Charles Gillette. [8]
Cyril Bracegidle in his book Dark River: Irwell asserts that legend has it that the tale of the Babes in the Wood was inspired by an incident at the hall during the reign of Edward III. On the morning of the Feast of the Ascension (the 40th Day after Easter Sunday) in 1374, young Roger Langley and his sister escaped from the villainous Robert de Holland and his men and hid in the forest which covered the slopes of the Irwell Valley, cared for by loyal retainers, until their guardian, John of Gaunt, the first Duke of Lancaster, rescued them. [9] However, other sources attribute the story to an incident in Wayland Wood, Norfolk. [10]
Prestwich is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Manchester, 3 miles (5 km) north of Salford and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Bury.
Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Manchester, 3 miles (5 km) north-west of Salford and 6 miles (10 km) south-east of Bolton.
Swinton is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. southwest of the River Irwell, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Manchester, adjoining the town of Pendlebury and suburb of Clifton. In 2014, it had a population of 22,931.
Clifton is a suburb of Swinton in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. It lies along the edge of Irwell Valley in the north of the City of Salford. Historically in Lancashire, it was a centre for coal mining, and once formed part of the Municipal Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury.
Bretherton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, situated to the south west of Leyland and east of Tarleton. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 669. Its name suggests pre-conquest origins and its early history was closely involved with the manor house Bank Hall and the families who lived there. Bretherton remained a rural community and today is largely residential with residents commuting to nearby towns.
Alkrington Garden Village is a suburban area of Middleton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.
Agecroft is a suburban area of Pendlebury, within the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It lies within the Irwell Valley, on the west bank of the River Irwell and along the course of the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal. It comprises a section of Pendlebury's high ground bisected by the A6044, its main thoroughfare; Kersal and Salford are across the river to the east. Agecroft Cemetery and HM Prison Forest Bank are in the area.
Windsor Farms is a 20th-century neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, of primarily Colonial Revival design.
Agecroft power station was a coal-fired power station between the eastern bank of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and the western bank of the River Irwell at Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It operated between 1925 and 1993, and was demolished in 1994. HM Prison Forest Bank has since been built on the site.
Drinkwater Park is situated in the Irwell Valley on the western border of Prestwich, near Manchester, bounded by the River Irwell to the west, Agecroft Road and Rainsough Brow (A6044) to the south, Butterstile Lane and Carr Clough estate to the east and Bunkers Hill to the north. The park is administered by Forestry England and is part of Prestwich Forest Park, which also incorporates Philips Park, Mere Clough, Prestwich Clough, Forest Bank Park in Pendlebury and Waterdale Meadow.
The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient office, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lancashire is the representative of the monarch in the county, and is the "Keeper of The King's Peace" in the county, executing judgements of the High Court through an Under Sheriff.
Charles Freeman Gillette (1886–1969) was a prominent landscape architect in the upper South who specialized in the creation of grounds supporting Colonial Revival architecture, particularly in Richmond, Virginia. He is associated with the restoration and re-creation of historic gardens in the upper South and especially Virginia. He is known for having established a regional style—known as the "Virginia Garden."
Pilkington was a township in the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham, hundred of Salford and county of Lancashire, in northern England.
The Pilkington family has its origins in the ancient township of Pilkington in the historic county of Lancashire, England. After about 1405 the family seat was Stand Old Hall which was built to replace Old Hall in Pilkington. The new hall was built on high land overlooking Pilkington's medieval deer park. Stand Old Hall was replaced by Stand Hall to the south in 1515 after the Pilkingtons were dispossessed. Stand Old Hall became a barn. It is possible that Sir Thomas Pilkington had permission to “embattle” his manor house in 1470 building a stone tower. It was a ruin by the 1950s and demolished in the early 1960s.
Andrew Knowles and Sons was a coal mining company that operated on the Manchester Coalfield in and around Clifton near Pendlebury, in the historic county of Lancashire, England.
Agecroft Cemetery and Crematorium is a public cemetery in Pendlebury, Salford, Greater Manchester.
Agecroft Rowing Club is a rowing club based at Salford Quays, Greater Manchester, England. It was formerly based close to the Agecroft Hall in Pendleton 2 miles (3.2 km) north. Its current location is its third within today's City of Salford on a site close to the city centre of Manchester.
Hulme Hall was a manor house adjacent to the River Irwell in Hulme, Manchester, England. A structure of this name existed from at least the time of Henry II (1133–1189) until its demolition around 1840 during development related to the Bridgewater Canal. Owners included the Prestwich and the Mosley baronets prior to the property being bought from George Lloyd in 1764 by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.