Wardley Hall

A moat has been on the site of the hall from at least 1292, Politician and lawyer Roger Downes bought Wardley Hall in 1601, and it was owned by his family for three generations. In 1760, Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater bought various estates around Lancashire including Wardley Hall. After his death, his estates, including the hall was left in trust to his nephew George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland and the latter's son Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere. Captain Thomas Nuttall began living at the hall from 1919 or 1920, while he was serving with the Royal Field Artillery in Germany. He bought the hall for £5000 in 1924. After learning that the planned East Lancashire…

The building is a quadrangular timber framed with a slate roof. It was originally surrounded by a moat, however only a portion still survives on the west side of the hall. The Great Hall is one of the earliest surviving parts of the building and dates from the late 15th or early 16th century. In 1561, the hall's founder Thurstan Tyldesley was granted an oratory license. He built a private chapel inside the gatehouse to the north of the hall. During the early 17th-century, Wardley Hall contained more than twenty bedrooms. A major restoration was carried out by John Douglas in 1894. Other restorations were carried out in 1734 and 1904.