Abney Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Abney Hall |
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The south face of Abney Hall looking north
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Victorian |
| Town or city | Cheadle, Greater Manchester |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°23′58″N 2°12′41″W / 53.399493°N 2.211258°W |
| Construction started | 1842 |
| Completed | 1847 |
Abney Hall is a large, old house from the Victorian era. It is surrounded by a big park in Cheadle, near Stockport, in northwest England. The house was finished in 1847. It is a Grade II* listed building, which means it's a very important historic building.
Contents
History of Abney Hall
How Abney Hall Started
The building of Abney Hall began in 1842. It was built where an old factory, the Cheadle Grove Print Works, used to be. That factory was built in 1760 but later burned down. Abney Hall was completed in 1847.
The house was first called 'The Grove'. It belonged to Alfred Orell, who was a mayor of Stockport. He died the same year the house was finished.
Changes Over Time
Abney Hall was later sold to James Watts, who became Sir James Watts. He made many changes to the house in the early 1850s. He rebuilt the top floor and added two short sections. The architects Travis and Magnall helped with these changes.
After this, James Watts hired another famous architect, A. W. N. Pugin. Pugin and his team had designed the amazing Gothic Court at the 1851 Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace. They made even more big changes to Abney Hall.
James Watts decided to rename the house 'Abney Hall'. He named it after Sir Thomas Abney, who had hosted a famous minister, Rev. Dr. Isaac Watts, for thirty years.
In the 1890s, the house was changed again and made much bigger. George Faulkner Armitage, an architect and designer, led these changes.
Abney Hall's Later Life
After his parents passed away, James Watts sold Abney Hall in 1958. It was bought by the local council for £14,000. In 1959, it became Cheadle Town Hall.
Later, in 1974, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council took over. They moved much of the old furniture to other historic houses like Bramall Hall and Lyme Hall. Parts of the land were sold, so now only about a tenth of the original park remains.
Today, the hall is used as offices. However, it is sometimes opened to the public during special events like Heritage Open Days in September. The park around the hall is open to everyone all year. In 2014, the hall was renovated, and new offices moved in. Some damage happened to the flagstones outside during filming for a TV show in 2014. In 2015, a new care home was built in what used to be the walled garden of Abney Hall.
Agatha Christie's Connection
The last private owner of Abney Hall was also named James Watts. He was the great-grandchild of Sir James Watts. He was also the only nephew of the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie. His father married Agatha's sister, Margaret Frary Miller, in 1902.
Agatha Christie often visited Abney Hall. She even wrote two stories while staying there: the novel After the Funeral and the short story "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding".
The hall was also used as the inspiration for other fictional houses in her books. For example, it helped her imagine Chimneys, a country house in The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery. Agatha Christie even dedicated The Secret of Chimneys to her nephew. You can find many references to places around Cheadle in her books.
A writer named Vanessa Wagstaff said that Abney Hall was Agatha Christie's biggest inspiration for country house life. This included all the servants and grand style that she wrote about in her stories. The descriptions of houses like Styles, Chimneys, and Stoneygates in her books are mostly based on Abney Hall in different ways.
Famous Visitors to Abney Hall
Many famous people have visited Abney Hall over the years:
- In 1857, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, visited the Hall. He said it was "one of the most princely mansions in the neighbourhood."
- Agatha Christie often stayed there because her nephew, James Watts, was the last private owner.
- Benjamin Disraeli, a former Prime Minister of the UK.
- E. M. Forster, a well-known writer.
- William Ewart Gladstone, another former Prime Minister of the UK.
The Grounds of Abney Hall
The park around Abney Hall is a Local Nature Reserve. This means it's a special place for nature. It used to be part of the Mersey flood plain, so much of the land is still very wet. This wet land has become wet meadows. These types of meadows are becoming rare in Stockport because land is often drained for building. Abney Hall is one of the few places in Stockport with these important wetlands.
There is also a small cafe called Abney Garden Teas in the Abney Centre, located in the middle of the park. In 2019, a new path for walking and cycling was created as part of a local plan called 'Bee Lines'.
