Hough End Hall

Hough End Hall
Hough End Hall
Location within Greater Manchester
General information
Type	Mansion
Architectural style	Elizabethan
Location	Nell Lane, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England
Coordinates	53°26′10″N2°15′53″W / 53.436111°N 2.264722°W / 53.436111; -2.264722
Completed	1596
Designations
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	Hough End Hall
Designated	25 February 1952
Reference no.	1283002

Sir Nicholas Mosley as Lord Mayor of London

Hough End Hall is a historic house in Chorlton-cum-Hardy (originally in Withington ^[1] ), a suburban area of Manchester, England. It was built in 1596, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, by Sir Nicholas Mosley, when he became Lord of the Manor of Manchester and of the dependent Manor of Withington (Chorlton-cum-Hardy was at that time a township within the Manor of Withington). The Mosleys were an influential Mancunian family from the 16th century onwards and were prominent in the affairs of the Manchester district for two and a half centuries.

Description

The house stands on Nell Lane, just north-east of Barlow Moor Road. Behind it runs the Metrolink line to East Didsbury and Manchester Airport, and Chorlton Brook passes along its northern side (Mauldeth Road West runs past it on the south). It is a three-storey brick building with gabled wings ornamented with balls. The central portion of the house is surmounted by a parapet in the form of three smaller gables with similar finials. The chimneys consist of square shafts set diagonally on square bases.

History and restoration

Over the years the house has been considerably altered, with new windows and structural modifications. The original oak, nail-studded back door is now inside the house, and a five-light window on the return of the staircase bay has been built up and can only be seen from within. The house has previously been used as a toolhouse, a blacksmith's shop and a farmhouse. By the 20th century the interior had been stripped of its original oak fittings; a handsome staircase at the east end of the house was removed by Lord Egerton to Tatton Hall. ^[2]

In 1917 some of the lands of the Hough End estate lying to the north-east of the hall, and north of the Midland Railway line, were taken over by the War Department for use as Alexandra Park Aerodrome until its closure in 1924; the site is now used as a public recreational space. ^[3]

Present day

Today, Hough End Hall is surrounded by large concrete office blocks, partially hiding it from public view. It has Grade II* listed building status. ^[4] Part of the former grounds of the Alexandra Park Aerodrome are now used for the Greater Manchester Police police horse and dog training centre, the Hough End Centre, Broughton Park RUFC's ground, and Hough End Playing Fields, including the site of the new swimming pool for Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Withington.

There was a fundraising campaign by The Friends of Hough End Hall to turn the building into a community centre. ^[3] In late 2015, a local group purchased the building and said it would be called Hough End Hall Academy, adding that it will be used for educational purposes. ^[5] It is now an academy and mosque. ^[6]

See also

• Greater Manchester portal

• Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
• Listed buildings in Manchester-M21

References

1. 1845 Tithe Map
2. "'Townships: Withington', A History of the County of Lancashire: Volume 4 (1911)". British History Online. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
3. "Districts & Suburbs of Manchester: Chorlton-cum-Hardy". Manchester 2002. Archived from the original on 9 December 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
4. Historic England. "Hough End Hall (Grade II*) (1283002)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 28 May 2008.
5. Hough End Hall has a new owner - Friends of Hough End Hall
6. "Hough End Hall Academy and Mosque". Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2026.

• R. A. Scholefield "Manchester's Early Airfields", a chapter in Moving Manchester: aspects of the history of transport in the city and region since 1700; edited by Derek Brumhead and Terry Wyke. Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, Manchester, 2004, (as the one hundredth volume of the Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society: ISSN 0950-4699)