| Damhouse | |
|---|---|
 Damhouse in 2011 | |
 | |
| Alternative names | Astley Hall |
| General information | |
| Type | Manor house |
| Coordinates | 53°30′11″N2°27′22″W / 53.503°N 2.456°W Coordinates: 53°30′11″N2°27′22″W / 53.503°N 2.456°W |
| Owner | Morts Astley Heritage Group |
| Website | |
| www | |
Damhouse or Astley Hall is a Grade II* Listed building in Astley, Greater Manchester, England. It has served as a manor house, sanatorium, and, since restoration in 2000, houses offices, a clinic, nursery and tearooms. [1]
From medieval times Damhouse was the site of the manor house for the lords of the manors of Astley and Tyldesley. Hugh Tyldesley was the first recorded occupant of the Damhouse in 1212. He was succeeded by his son Henry. The manors were separated after the death of Hugh's grandson, Henry, in 1301 and Damhouse became the manor house for Astley. In 1345 Richard Radcliff took possession of the hall and became lord of the manor in 1353. The Radcliffes remained in possession until the failure of the male line with William Radcliff's death in 1561 and his half sister Ann Radcliff inherited. Ann's husband, Gilbert Gerard, became lord of the manor. He was attorney general to Queen Elizabeth I and knighted in 1579. His son, Thomas Gerard, inherited the house and mortgaged it to James Anderton of Lostock. [2]
Adam Mort bought the hall and 60-acre estate in 1595 and bought the manorial rights in 1606. Mort was a wealthy man and built a new house. He built Astley Chapel, the first chapel of ease to Leigh Parish Church and Morts Grammar School, Astley's first school. Adam Mort died in 1631 and was succeeded by his son Thomas who lived at Peel Hall, Little Hulton. Thomas's son, Adam, inherited Damhouse whilst a minor in 1638. The inscription over the lintel reads, "Erected by Adam Mort and Margret Mort 1650". [3] Adam died in 1658 leaving the property to his son Thomas who was four years old. Thomas died unmarried in 1733. The property was bought by Thomas Sutton, a distant cousin in 1734. After Sutton's death in 1752 his cousin, Thomas Froggatt inherited the estate which was in turn left to his son, Thomas. [4] After 1799 the house was occupied by tenants including George Ormerod, who had inherited the Banks Estate of his uncle Thomas Johnson in Tyldesley. [5]
Thomas Froggat's granddaughter Sarah, married twice. By her first husband John Adam Durie, she had a daughter Katherine. She married Malcolm Nugent Ross in 1844 and he leased the coal rights under the estate to Astley and Tyldesley Collieries in 1857. Katherine Durie became lady of the manor on the death of her mother in 1860. By now the estate was in decline. Katharine married Henry Davenport who died in 1845, and secondly Sir Edward Wetherall. In 1856 he was living at Dam House. Upon his death in 1869 he was succeeded by George Nugent Ross Wetherall and then by his brother Henry Augustus Wetherall who was in financial difficulty.
Dam House was sold in November 1889 and remained empty until 1893 when it was sold to the Leigh Council for use as a sanatorium for treating infectious diseases. Four isolation wards were built to house patients with scarlet and typhoid fevers and the house was used as offices and a nurses' home. [6]
An earlier building on the site was a stone and timber hall close to a large barn and cornmill powered by a water wheel. The house gets its name from the dam on the brook that was built to power the wheel.
The manor house Adam Mort built, dating from around 1600, is described in his will, He died in 1631. The house had a kitchen, parlour with a parlour chamber over it, bed chamber, little chamber, buttery, dairy, loft and clock loft with a bell. The house may have had a chapel. Outside there were stables, pig sties and a ruined stone and timber barn. [3] The three-storey building was built of handmade bricks with a timber frame. A timber lintel over an inglenook fireplace has been dated to before 1600. [7]
Much of this building survives though Mort's grandson altered the front of the building in 1650 as evidenced by a plaque over the door. Considerable additions were made in the 18th and 19th centuries when the two-storey east wing was built for the Froggatts. It contains a large first-floor billiard room with four decorative gothic roof trusses. A single-storey north wing with a two-storey coach house was added before 1845 and a single storey west wing added sometime after 1845 when the house was restored by Sarah and Malcolm Ross. [8]
The house, built around a quadrangle, open at the south west corner is built of rendered brick with stone details and a slate roof. The three-storey frontage has five unequal bays with stone mullioned windows and crosswing gables. There are canted three-storey bay windows in two of the crosswings. The central three-storey porch bay has a studded oak door with Doric columns, pediment and a fanlight. The frontage is largely as built but the plaque over the door is a 20th-century replacement. The east wing dating from the early 19th century is of rendered brick and has four-bays which included a chapel on the first floor. The north and west extensions are built of brick. [9]
Restoration in 1999-2000 uncovered a "short" long gallery in the attic, 64 feet in length. It had been sub-divided and is the only known example in North West England. [10]
Astley Hospital closed in 1994 and Morts Astley Heritage Group was founded with the aim of saving the listed building. After fundraising and acquiring grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Rechar and other organisations the group bought the house and surrounding woodland in order to preserve it. Damhouse was renovated by 2000 and space within the property rented to the local Clinic, a private nursery, and various businesses. On site is a tea room and a conference room and community room are available to hire. [11] [12]
The house is set in an area of woodland and there is a pond with accessible footpath.
Tabley House is an English country house in Tabley Inferior, some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the west of the town of Knutsford, Cheshire. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. It was built between 1761 and 1769 for Sir Peter Byrne Leicester, to replace the nearby Tabley Old Hall, and was designed by John Carr. The Tabley House Collection exists as a permanent exhibition showcased by the University of Manchester.
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Astley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 East Lancashire Road. Continuous with Tyldesley, it is equidistant from Wigan and Manchester, both 8.3 miles (13.4 km) away. Astley Mosley Common ward had a population of 11,270 at the 2011 Census.
Tyldesley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, 7.7 miles (12.4 km) southeast of Wigan and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) northwest of Manchester. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Tyldesley built-up area, excluding Shakerley, had a population of 16,142.
Little Hulton is an area in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) south of Bolton, 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest of Salford, and 9 miles (14.5 km) northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Little Hulton is bordered by Farnworth to the north, Walkden to the east and Tyldesley to the south.
George Ormerod was an English antiquary and historian. Among his writings was a major county history of Cheshire, in North West England.
Baguley Hall is a 14th-century timber-framed building in Baguley, Greater Manchester, North West England.
The Tyldesley Top Chapel is a chapel in Tyldesley. It is a Grade II Listed building.
Rivington Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was the manor house for the Lords of the Manor of Rivington. The hall is of various builds as successor to a 15th-century timber-framed courtyard house that was built near to the present building of which no trace remains. It is a private residence.
Bedford, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester is one of three ancient townships, Bedford, Pennington and Westleigh, that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh. Historically, Bedford was in Lancashire.
Haigh Hall is a historic country house in Haigh, Metropolitan Borough of 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 Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.
Morleys Hall, a moated hall converted to two houses, is situated at grid reference SJ 689 992 on Morleys Lane, on the edge of Astley Moss in Astley in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester, England. It was largely rebuilt in the 19th century on the site of a medieval timber house. The hall is a Grade II* listed building and the moat a scheduled ancient monument. Morleys is a private residence.
St Stephen's Church is a parish church in Astley, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican church built in 1968 and part of Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford and diocese of Manchester. The church, together with St George's Church, Tyldesley and St John's Church, Mosley Common is part of the united benefice of Astley, Tyldesley and Mosley Common. Its origins are in Astley Chapel, a chapel of ease of Leigh Parish Church built in 1631 and its successor which was burned in an arson attack in 1961.
Boughton Monchelsea Place, previously Boughton Court, is a 16th-century country house in Boughton Monchelsea, Kent, England. The first part of the house was built by Robert Rudston circa 1567–75 on the site of an earlier manor house. It has been modified a number of times during its history achieving its present form in 1819. It has been a home to a number of members of parliament for Maidstone or for Kent, including Sir Francis Barnham, Sir Robert Barnham (1646–85) Sir Barnham Rider (1698–1728) and Thomas Rider (1805–47).
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Tyldesley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It contains several listed buildings designated by English Heritage and included in the National Heritage List for England. Most are listed at Grade II, the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest".
Astley is a settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Originally a village, it now forms a continuous urban area with Tyldesley to the north. It lies on flat land north of Chat Moss and is crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 "East Lancashire Road". Astley contains several listed buildings designated by English Heritage and included in the National Heritage List for England. Most are listed at Grade II, the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest".
Garrett Hall or The Garrett is a former manor house and now a grade II listed farmhouse in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, England. The hall was designated a grade II listed building in 1987.
Chaddock Hall was an ancient hall on Chaddock Lane in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, England. It was designated a Grade II listed building in 1966. It was gutted in an arson attack in 2014.
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