Bispham Hall | |
---|---|
General information | |
Address | Crank Road, Billinge, Greater Manchester, England |
Year(s) built | 1573 with later extensions |
Designations | |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Bispham Hall |
Designated | 22 August 1966 |
Reference no. | 1068434 |
Website | |
bisphamhall.org.uk |
Bispham Hall is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan country house in Billinge, now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. [1]
The hall was built in 1573 but has been extended since. It is constructed to an E-shaped plan in dressed stone with ashlar dressings in three storeys, with a frontage of five gabled bays. The second and fourth bays project but the first and fifth bays project even further and are wider. Despite interior damage caused by fire, the hall remains one of the most complete examples of 16th-century architecture in the historic county of Lancashire. [1] The surrounding park, at one time much larger than the 60-acre estate which exists today, had extensive woodlands which contain an 1815 monument to the Duke of Wellington and a smaller monument to either a horse or dog called Dash.
Bispham Hall was named after the Bispham family who acquired the estate by marriage in 1346 and held it until 1730. It then passed to the Leigh family of Whitley Hall, Wigan. In 1825 the property had descended to John Holt, who had inherited it in 1816 from his unmarried brother Robert. [2] In 1841 John Holt left the property to William Mills, a distant relative of Cheshire, on condition that the latter adopted the surname of Holt. [3] On William's death, the estate passed to his son William Thomas, who died in 1857, leaving it to be divided between his six sisters, whereby it was sold in 1871 to coal-producer Meyrick Holmes Bankes of Winstanley Hall. [4]
The Bispham estate was acquired by the Boy Scout Association in 1948 as an activity centre. The hall itself was gutted by a fire in 1977 or 1978, but has been since restored by the Vivat Trust and is now privately owned. The scout activity centre provides, in addition to indoor accommodation facilities, field camping areas for large groups and smaller woodland clearings for smaller groups. Varied outdoor facilities are organised, including climbing, orienteering, canoeing and team sports.
Local legend tells how the ghost of Nellie Bispham haunts the woods around Bispham Hall. Additionally, the ghost of Flo Demon is said to haunt the bunkhouse after her demise by an axe in 1993. [5]
Winstanley College is a sixth-form college in the Billinge Higher End area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.
Orrell is a suburb of Wigan in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The population of the ward had fallen at the 2011 Census to 11,513. The area lies 3 miles (4.8 km) to the west of Wigan town centre. The area is contiguous with Pemberton.
Standish is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is on the A49 road between Chorley and Wigan, near Junction 27 of the M6 motorway. The population of the village was 13,278 in the 2011 census.
Billinge Hill, also known as Billinge Bump, is in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in North West England. With a maximum elevation of 179 m (587 ft), it is the highest point of Merseyside. It lies in Billinge, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, and it is one of the 176 hills graded as a Marilyn in England.
Billinge is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. It forms the larger part of the civil parish of Billinge Chapel End.
Smithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a scheduled monument in Smithills, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the slopes of the West Pennine Moors above Bolton at a height of 500 feet, three miles north west of the town centre. It occupies a defensive site near the Astley and Raveden Brooks. One of the oldest manor houses in the north west of England, its oldest parts, including the great hall, date from the 15th century and it has been since been altered and extended particularly the west part. Parts of it were moated. The property is owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and open to the public.
Winstanley may refer to:
Winstanley is a suburb of Wigan in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, the area had a population of 15,849, reducing at the 2011 census to 11,264.
Ince was a parliamentary constituency in England which elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Ince-in-Makerfield and other towns south of Wigan.
Billinge was, from 1872 to 1974, a local government district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England.
Higher End or Billinge Higher End is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.
Billinge Hospital was a National Health Service facility in the Billinge Higher End district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It was managed by the 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust.
Longshaw is a small residential and agricultural area within Billinge Higher End at the western boundary of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is situated at the northern foot of Billinge Hill on the B5206 road. Historically, Longshaw was part of Lancashire.
There are 37 scheduled monuments in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building that has been given protection against unauthorised change by being placed on a list by the Secretary of State for Digital Culture, Media and Sport; Historic England recommends sites for scheduling to the Secretary of State. Scheduled monuments are defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the National Heritage Act 1983. There are nearly 20,000 entries on the schedule, which is maintained by Historic England as part of the National Heritage List for England; more than one site can be included in a single entry. While a scheduled monument can also be recognised as a listed building, Historic England's aim is to set the most appropriate form of protection in place for the building or site. Applications to deschedule a site are administered Historic England, who will carry out an assessment and make a recommendation to the Secretary of State.
Winstanley Hall is a late 16th-century house in Winstanley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. It is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II* listed building. Originally built for the Winstanley family, the building is one of only three Tudor buildings in the Borough.
There are 236 Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance; Grade II* structures are those considered to be "particularly significant buildings of more than local interest". In England, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with English Heritage, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
St Catharine's Church is in Lorne Street, Scholes, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Wigan, the archdeaconry of Warrington and the diocese of Liverpool. Its benefice is united with that of Christ Church, Ince-in-Makerfield. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It was a Commissioners' church, having received a grant towards its construction from the Church Building Commission.
Haigh Hall is a historic country house in Haigh, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Built between 1827 and 1840 for James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, it replaced an ancient manor house and was a Lindsay family home until 1947, when it was sold to Wigan Corporation. The hall is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building and is owned by Wigan Council.
Billinge and Winstanley is an area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The area, which consists of small settlements and surrounding countryside, includes eleven listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, three are listed at Grade II*, the middle of the three grades, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. Most of the listed buildings are houses and associated structures, the others being monuments and a set of stocks.