Orford Hall, now demolished, was a 17th-century country house built in an estate which is now a public park (Orford Park) in Orford, Warrington, England.
Orford Hall, now demolished, was a 17th-century country house built in an estate which is now a public park (Orford Park) in Orford, Warrington, England.
The original hall at Orford was a timber and plaster building, with ornate chimneys and a thatched roof, which was built for the Le Norris family in 1232. The Norris family occupied the hall until 1595 after which it was acquired by Thomas Tildesley, who rebuilt it in the Jacobean style. At that time the building was known as Norris House.
In 1638 the property was purchased by Thomas Blackburne, a wealthy Cheshire salt merchant, and afterwards inherited by his son Jonathan (1646–1724), High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1715, who made extensive improvements to the house. It was afterwards occupied by Jonathan's son John Blackburne (1694–1786), a well-known naturalist and horticulturalist, whose daughter was Anna Blackburne, the noted botanist. At that time the hall was well known for its outstanding collection of rare plants, trees and unusual animals and the hothouse in the grounds was the first in the country to grow pineapples, coffee, tea and sugarcane. There was also an Orangery where citrus fruits were cultivated. In 1799 a catalogue of all the plant species growing at Orford was published by the estate's head gardener. John was High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1743.
John's son was another Thomas and Thomas' son another John (1754–1833), who was High Sheriff for 1781 and MP for Lancashire from 1784 to 1830.
The hall was then leased to Lucy Hornby (whose grandson Edmund Hornby was elected the first MP for Warrington in 1832). When she died her two daughters let the hall for use as a young ladies school, after which it became the home of the Litton family until 1866.
The next occupant was William Beamont, the first mayor of Warrington, whose widow, Letitia, stayed on at the hall after his death. When she left the property deteriorated until taken over by Warrington Training College.
Ultimately the property descended to Colonel Robert Ireland Blackburne, who in 1916 allowed the hall and 18 acres of surrounding parkland to be gifted to Warrington Council as a War Memorial. The park opened to the public the following year and a bowling green was added in 1924. The house itself, however, was allowed to deteriorate to the point where it was not financially viable to be restored and it was therefore demolished in 1935.
Orford is a suburb of Warrington, in the Warrington district, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.
Hornby Castle is a country house, developed from a medieval castle, standing to the east of the village of Hornby in the Lune Valley, Lancashire, England. It occupies a position overlooking the village in a curve of the River Wenning. The house is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.
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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.
Anna Blackburne was an English botanist and collector who assembled an extensive collection of natural history specimens and corresponded with several notable naturalists of her era. Blackburne was born at Orford Hall, Orford, Warrington, Lancashire, into a family of landowners and merchants. After her mother's death, she lived at Orford with her father John Blackburne, who was known for his interest in botany and his hothouses for exotic plants. John Blackburne also had an extensive library where Anne probably studied botany; she later taught herself Latin so she could read the Systema Naturae of Carl Linnaeus. She developed a natural history museum where she collected insects, shells, minerals and birds. She regularly met with the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster while he was teaching at Warrington Academy. Forster instructed her in entomology and helped with her insect collection.
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John Ireland Blackburne was a British army officer and Conservative politician.
John Ireland Blackburne was a British Conservative politician.
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Elma Amy Yerburgh was a member of the Thwaites family who was owner and then chairman of the Thwaites Brewery company from 1888 to 1946. She was the daughter of Daniel Thwaites, M.P. for Blackburn, and was married to Robert Yerburgh, M.P. for Chester. In the town of Blackburn she was known for her generosity to the company's workers and as a public benefactor, who helped fund the construction of the War Memorial wing to Blackburn Royal Infirmary and helped found the town's Empire Theatre, now named after her. Her name was also commemorated in "Elma's Pound", a beer specially brewed by Thwaites Brewery for Christmas 2007 to celebrate their 200th anniversary.
John Blackburne was an English landowner, Member of Parliament and High Sheriff of Lancashire.
John Blackburne was an English businessman, landowner and renowned amateur botanist.
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