Hough End Hall

The house has served various functions in its earlier history, including as a toolhouse, a blacksmith's shop and a farmhouse. Over time it underwent significant alteration, with new windows and structural changes. The original oak, nail‑studded back door now stands inside the building, and a five‑light window on the return of the staircase bay was later blocked and is visible only from within. By the early 20th century the interior had lost its original oak fittings, and a staircase at the east end was removed by Lord Egerton to Tatton Hall. In 1917, land from the Hough End estate to the north-east of the hall and north of the Midland Railway line was taken over by the War Department for…

The building is constructed of brown brick with stone details and a stone‑slate roof. Its layout forms an H‑shape and it has two and a half storeys with a balanced front of one window, then three, then one. The attic has blocked window openings with stone surrounds, two in the central section and three in each side wing. Traces of much smaller original stone‑framed windows survive in several places, including both ends of the main ground floor, the inner corner of the left wing on both levels, and either side of the ground‑floor window in that wing. Each window is topped by a raised gable with a finial and stone coping. The left side wall carries two very large chimney stacks, each with a…

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.

Today, Hough End Hall is surrounded by large concrete office blocks, partially hiding it from public view. It has Grade II* listed building status. 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. It is now an academy and mosque.