Ordsall Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ordsall Hall |
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Ordsall Hall in 2014
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| General information | |
| Town or city | Ordsall, Greater Manchester |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°28′10″N 2°16′39″W / 53.469444°N 2.2775°W |
| Designations | |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name: Ordsall Hall | |
| Designated: | 31 January 1952 |
| Reference #: | 1386169 |
Ordsall Hall is a really old and large house in Ordsall, Greater Manchester, England. It's been around for over 750 years! The oldest parts you can see today were built in the 1400s. For more than 300 years, it was the home of the important Radclyffe family.
Some people believe that the famous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was planned here. This story is featured in a book called Guy Fawkes by William Harrison Ainsworth.
After the Radclyffe family sold it in 1662, Ordsall Hall was used for many different things. It was a club for working men, a school for church leaders, and even a radio station during World War II. In 1959, the local council bought the house. After lots of work, it opened to the public in 1972. Today, you can visit it as a museum to see what old houses were like. It's a very important historic building, and it's free to enter!
Contents
A Look Back at Ordsall Hall's Story
Ordsall Hall is a beautiful old house built in the Tudor style. It used to be surrounded by a moat, which is a ditch filled with water for protection. The very first house on this spot was built over 750 years ago. The first known owner was David de Hulton in 1251. Around 1335, the Radclyffe family took over the land. Sir John Radclyffe officially became the owner in 1354.
The Radclyffe Family's Home
In the 1340s, Sir John Radclyffe fought alongside King Edward III in France. He was a brave soldier in battles like Caen and Crécy. As a reward, the king let Sir John bring some skilled weavers from Flanders (now part of Belgium) back to Ordsall.
These Flemish weavers helped teach local people how to weave better cloth. At that time, English weaving wasn't very good. They even started a silk weaving business. This was a big step for Manchester, which later became famous for its cotton industry.
A famous writer named Erasmus visited Ordsall Hall in 1499. He wrote about the floors being covered with rushes, which were often dirty. Luckily, houses are much cleaner today!
The main part of the house, called the Great Hall, was rebuilt in 1512. This happened after Sir Alexander Radclyffe became a high-ranking official in Lancashire. The Great Hall has an amazing roof. It's one of the biggest halls of its kind from that time.
More changes were made in the 1600s. A brick house was added in 1639. During the English Civil War, Sir Alexander Radclyffe supported the King. He was put in prison and lost a lot of money. Because of this, his son, John Radclyffe, had to sell the hall in 1662. This ended over 300 years of the Radclyffe family living there.
What Happened to Ordsall Hall Later?
In 1666, Ordsall Hall was the biggest house in Salford. It had 19 fireplaces! The Oldfield family bought it later, and then the Stock family in 1704. The Stocks were probably the last owners to actually live in the hall. They lived in the middle part, while the other parts were rented out.
In 1756, the hall was sold to Samuel Hill, and then to his nephew, Samuel Egerton, in 1758. People continued to live in the hall until 1871.
By the late 1800s, Ordsall Hall was surrounded by factories and busy streets. From 1875, a mill rented the hall and used it as a club for working men. The Great Hall became a gym!
In 1883, the Earl Egerton bought the hall. He spent a lot of money to fix it up between 1896 and 1898. He then started a school there to train church leaders. A new church was even built next to the hall. The school moved in 1908, but the men's club stayed until 1940. During World War II, the hall was used as a radio station. The church and other newer buildings were taken down in the 1960s.
In 1959, the local council bought Ordsall Hall. After a lot of restoration work, it opened as a museum in 1972. Like many old buildings, Ordsall Hall has ghost stories! Some say a "White Lady" appears in the Great Hall. People believe she is Margaret Radclyffe, who died of a broken heart in 1599.
In 2007, a campaign started to get money to fix up Ordsall Hall even more. They received a large grant of £4.1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The building closed for repairs in 2009 and reopened on May 15, 2011. Now, more of the hall is open for everyone to explore!
What Does Ordsall Hall Look Like?
Today, Ordsall Hall has two main parts. There's the timber-framed (wooden) south part from the 1400s. Then there's the brick west part, built in 1639. The house was originally built around a central courtyard, but the other parts of that courtyard are gone now.
An old description from 1380 says the house had "a hall, five chambers, a kitchen and a chapel." It also had stables, barns, a dovecote (for pigeons), an orchard, and a windmill. There was also a lot of farmland around it.
Around the mid-1700s, some big changes happened. A floor was added in the Great Hall, and new rooms were created. The east part of the hall was probably taken down around this time too.
People also believe there were secret underground tunnels leading from the hall into Manchester. One story from 1900 describes a door in a hotel cellar that led to a tunnel under the River Irwell. It was thought to go all the way to Ordsall Hall!
The Guy Fawkes Legend
In his 1842 book Guy Fawkes, Harrison Ainsworth wrote about a local legend. It says that the famous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was planned right here in Ordsall Hall's Star Chamber. The story goes that Guy Fawkes and Robert Catesby met here.
It's also said that Guy Fawkes escaped from the King's soldiers through a secret tunnel from Ordsall Hall. This tunnel supposedly led to an inn near Manchester Cathedral. There's no strong proof for these stories, but the Radclyffe family were Catholic and knew the Catesby family. The legend is still remembered today. There's even a road next to the hall called Guy Fawkes Street!
Gallery
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The Great Hall
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The Exterior
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The Star Chamber
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The Great Chamber
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The Kitchen
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester
- Listed buildings in Salford, Greater Manchester
