Adlington Hall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Adlington Hall
Adlington Hall from the southwest
Location	Adlington, Cheshire, England
OS grid reference	SJ 905 805
Area	160 acres (65 ha)
Built	1480–1505
Built for	Thomas Legh
Rebuilt	18th century 1928
Architect	Charles Legh (?) (18th century) Hubert Worthington (1928 reconstruction)
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated	25 July 1952
Reference no.	1234130
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Adlington Hall is a really old and cool country house located near Adlington, Cheshire, in England. The oldest part of the house, called the Great Hall, was built a long, long time ago, between 1480 and 1505. An east section was added in 1581. The Legh family has lived in this house and on this land since the early 1300s!

During the English Civil War, the house was taken over by the Roundheads, who were against the King. After the war, some changes were made. The Great Hall was covered in brick, new windows were put in, and a special organ was added. In the 1700s, Charles Legh inherited the house and made even bigger changes. He added a new west section with a ballroom and a south section with a large entrance. He might have even designed these parts himself! Charles also helped plan the beautiful gardens, woods, and parkland around the house. These areas included interesting structures, like a bridge with a summerhouse on it.

In 1928, the hall was rebuilt and made a bit smaller. Parts of the west and south sections were removed. Over the years, the gardens and parkland became overgrown. But since the mid-1900s, people have worked hard to bring them back to life. They have also created new, fancy gardens near the house.

Adlington Hall is a very important historical building. It is listed as a Grade I building, which means it's super special. Other buildings on the property, like the stable block, are also listed as important historical sites. The beautiful grounds are also recognized as a Grade II* historic park. Today, you can visit Adlington Hall and take guided tours. You can even rent parts of the building for events like weddings!

History of Adlington Hall

The very first building on this spot was a hunting lodge used by Earl Edwin during the Anglo-Saxon times. After the Normans took over England, the land was given to Hugh Lupus. It stayed with the Norman earls until 1221, when it became property of the King.

King Henry III later gave the land to Hugh de Corona. Hugh's son, Thomas, had no children. So, he gave the land to his sister Ellen. She married John de Legh in the early 1300s, during the time of King Edward II. This is how Adlington Hall became the home of the Legh family.

Originally, the hall was made of wooden buildings around a courtyard, surrounded by a moat (a ditch filled with water). The Great Hall, on the north side, was built between 1480 and 1505 for Thomas Legh I. The east section and porch were added in 1581 for Thomas Legh III.

During the English Civil War, Colonel Thomas Legh, who supported the King, held the hall. But the Roundheads (Parliamentary forces) captured it twice, in 1642 and 1644. The hall was given back to the Legh family in 1656. The north side was fixed up in 1660. Between 1665 and 1670, the north section was rebuilt for Thomas Legh IV. Windows were added, and the Great Hall (except the porch) was covered in brick.

In 1739, Charles Legh inherited the estate. He started a huge building project, changing the hall from a medium-sized Tudor house into a large Georgian mansion. He built a new west section with a dining room, a drawing room, a library, and a ballroom. The ballroom took up the entire first floor! Then, he rebuilt the south section, connecting it to the new west section and the older Tudor east section. At each end of the south section, there was a small building with a bay window. The west one held part of the ballroom, and the east one had a chapel. During this time, the stable block and other buildings were also constructed in the grounds. We don't know for sure who the architect was, but some think Charles Legh designed it himself.

A big reconstruction happened in 1928, led by architect Hubert Worthington. Much of the west section was taken down, removing the ballroom but keeping the drawing and dining rooms. To avoid a gap, Worthington built a wall with a corridor connecting the west and south sections. He decorated this wall with special stone blocks and windows. The projecting buildings at the ends of the south side were also removed. During World War II, parts of the Hall were used as a maternity ward. In the 1960s, the stable block was turned into apartments. Between 2004 and 2009, the east section was restored.

What Adlington Hall Looks Like

The northeast corner of the courtyard

Outside the Hall

The hall is shaped like a square with four sections around a central courtyard. It's a mix of different building styles! The north and east sections are made of black-and-white timber framing from the 1400s and 1500s. The south and west sections are brick from the mid-1700s.

The north side is brick with stone corners, covering the timber frame. It has an uneven look, with two or three floors and six pointed roofs. You'll see a mix of 12- and 16-pane windows, plus two special Venetian windows. On the courtyard side, there's a two-story wooden porch with a long message from 1581.

The east section is timber-framed with closely spaced wooden posts. It has windows with vertical and horizontal bars, a small bay window, and 12- and 16-pane windows. There's also a two-story staircase tower.

The south section is made of brick with sandstone decorations. It looks balanced, with two and three floors and 13 sections. It sits on a low stone base and has rough-looking stone corners. In the middle, there's a large entrance that goes up the full height of the building. This entrance has four plain columns, each on an eight-sided base. It has a decorative band with "CHARLES & HESTER LEGH 1757" written on it. The triangular top has the Legh family's coat of arms. Behind the entrance are two round-arched windows and a round-arched door on the ground floor. On each side of the entrance are 12-pane windows.

Only the far left and right ends of the west section are still there, connected by a screen wall. Inside the courtyard, on the south and west sides, there's a covered walkway.

Inside the Hall

The main part of the north section is the medieval Great Hall. It has a special hammer-beam roof with carved angels added later. The roof looks like it's made of panels, but it's actually plastered and painted.

At the end where the main table would have been, there's a beautiful wooden canopy. This canopy is like a fancy cloth that would have hung over the Lord of the Manor's table to make him look important. It has five layers of panels, divided into 60 sections, each painted with the coats of arms of families from Cheshire. At the points where the sections meet, there are carved letters spelling out a message, including the date 1505. In 1611, there were over 180 coats of arms displayed!

Under the canopy, there's a painting of Hector and Andromache. The side walls have paintings showing the history of Troy. These paintings were covered up until 1859, when the family accidentally damaged the plaster while playing a game.

The other end of the hall is supported by two huge oak tree trunks, carved into an eight-sided shape and covered in panels. Inside this structure is the organ (more on that below!). On the sides of the organ are paintings of Arabella Hunt and Saint Cecilia playing a harp. Below these paintings were doors to the buttery and pantry, but they are now blocked and covered with carved panels of animals and plants. The Great Hall also has a fireplace decorated with the head of Apollo.

In the west section are the rooms that survived from Charles Legh's changes: the dining room on the ground floor and the drawing room above it. Both rooms are covered in wood panels and decorated in a Classical style, with fancy tops over the doors and fireplaces. The dining room is simpler and has a white marble fireplace from 1742. The drawing room's fireplace is also white marble but more detailed, with carvings of scrolls and flowers. This room also has huge columns. Above its doors are wooden carvings of the heads of Bacchus, Ceres, Flora, and Neptune.

The rooms in the south section include family sitting rooms with fancy ceilings and designs inspired by Gothic and Chinese art. This section also holds items moved from the parts of the west section that were taken down. The east section contains service rooms, like kitchens.

The Amazing Organ

The organ was placed in the Great Hall in the late 1600s. There's some debate about exactly when it was installed and who built it. It was probably built around 1670 and might have been made by Bernard "Father" Smith, a famous organ builder. It has two keyboards and no foot pedals, with fourteen different sounds. It's rare because it still has three 17th-century reed stops!

The organ was "remade" around 1680 and rebuilt in 1741–42. In 1958–59, it was restored after being unused for over a century. The organ has a "very fine" case from the Renaissance period, with two levels. The lower level has the keyboards and a row of pipes. The upper level has five panels with pipes, surrounded by columns. On top is a large curved hood with gold-colored statues of little angels playing trumpets. It also has a coat of arms celebrating the marriage of John Legh to Isabella Robartes in 1693. The hall's website says it's "without doubt England's most important surviving instrument from the late 17th century." It has even received a special Historic Organ Certificate. The organ was filmed and recorded for a documentary called The Elusive English Organ.

The famous composer George Frideric Handel was a friend of the Legh family and played this organ in 1741 or 1742. He also wrote music for a hunting song that Charles Legh had written. There's a story that Handel composed his famous piece The Harmonious Blacksmith at the hall, but we can't be sure.

Exploring the Grounds

The hall is surrounded by a large park and woodland, covering about 160 acres. Charles Legh played a big part in designing the gardens in the 1700s. Over the years, some parts of the grounds became overgrown, and some buildings fell into disrepair. But since the 1950s, work has been done to improve the grounds and create new, modern gardens. North of the house, there's now a rose garden and a yew maze.

Southeast of the hall is the stable block, which partly surrounds a courtyard. It has a south side with nine sections, and the middle three stick out with a triangular top supported by four large columns. It used to have a small dome on top, but that's gone now. A formal garden has been built between the east section and the stable block. In this garden, there's a lead statue of a reclining man, said to be Father Tiber, a river god. This statue used to be in another garden area. On the wall behind the statue are two carved unicorn heads, which are the symbol of the Legh family. These used to be on pillars at the eastern entrance to the grounds. The statue is a Grade II listed building, meaning it's nationally important. South of the formal garden is a stone statue of Napoleon carved in 1837.

West of the hall is a ha-ha, a hidden ditch made of stone from the 1700s. It was built to separate the garden from the deer park beyond it and is also listed as Grade II. Right south of the hall is a round lawn with a sundial in the middle, probably from around 1825. It's made of light brown sandstone and stands on two circular steps. It has an eight-sided base with a partly grooved support holding an eight-sided top. The top has a copper plate with Roman numerals and the initials "TL," and a simple triangular pointer. This sundial is also listed as Grade II.

Leading south from the lawn is a path called the Lime Avenue, which you enter through gates from 1688. The gates are made of wrought iron, and the stone posts are also listed as Grade II. The avenue leads to another Grade II listed building, called the Shell House. It's named this because its inside is decorated with shells and colored mirrors! It's a small, one-story cottage made of red brick with sandstone decorations. The roof is stone, and the chimney is brick. In front of Shell Cottage is another sundial, also listed as Grade II. This one was probably built in the early 1700s for John Legh and moved here in the mid-1700s. People think the pillar it stands on was originally the base of an Saxon cross. The eight-sided copper plate has Roman numerals, the longitude of Adlington, and John Legh's initials. In front of the Shell House is another path called the Yew Walk. At the back and side of the house is a rock garden.

South and west of the Shell House is a wooded area called the Wilderness, where the River Dean flows. Many of the winding paths Charles Legh created in the Wilderness are now overgrown, and some of the buildings are in poor condition or have fallen apart. One building still in good shape is the Tig House, a small square pavilion overlooking the river. It's an early example of a building in the Chinese style. It's made of red brick and partly covered in black and white timber framing. It has a stone roof with a wooden decoration on top and is listed as Grade II. Nearby is a bridge called the Chinese Bridge crossing the river, but the summerhouse that used to be on it is gone.

Another structure in the Wilderness is the Temple of Diana. This is a round temple with a dome made of light brown sandstone. It stands on a base that supports six columns and a decorative band. This structure is listed as Grade II. It looks to be in good condition, but in the early 2000s, it was said to be suffering from dampness. Other buildings, known as the Rathouse and the Hermitage, have been damaged by falling trees.

At the north entrance to the grounds, there's a pair of gate posts that are listed as Grade II. The posts are made of rough sandstone and have ball shapes on top. The gates are iron and look similar to those at the end of the Lime Avenue. At the other end of the grounds, where the old south entrance used to be, there's another pair of sandstone gate posts from the mid-1700s. They originally held the carved unicorn heads that are now in the formal garden. They were left alone when the main road was moved. They are also listed as Grade II.

Adlington Hall Today

Adlington Hall is located in the countryside west of the village of Adlington, Cheshire, England. It was officially recognized as a Grade I listed building on July 25, 1952. A Grade I listing means the building is considered "exceptionally important" and sometimes even "internationally important."

The Legh family privately owned Adlington Hall and lived there for centuries. In 2023, the hall and its 1,921 acres were sold. Today, it is open to the public for visits and guided tours at certain times.

The Great Hall and the Hunting Lodge can be rented for weddings and other social events. The south section of the stable block has been turned into eight apartments and is called The Mews. It is a Grade II* listed building, meaning it's "particularly important." The east section is listed as Grade II and has been converted into two apartments and tea rooms. The beautiful parkland around the hall is also recognized as a Grade II* historic park, meaning it's "particularly important."

In 1984, Adlington Hall was used as a filming location for "The Speckled Band" episode of the Granada TV series Sherlock Holmes. It was used again in 1986 for "Abbey Grange" episode of the same series.

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire
• Listed buildings in Adlington, Cheshire