Worsley Old Hall conservation area

Background information

The conservation area was designated in order to protect the setting of Worsley Old Hall, a grade II listed building, and to protect the historic character of the area in general. The conservation area has within its boundary Worsley Old Hall and the former Worsley Old Hall farm, now altered and extended as the Marriott Hotel which includes a full size 18-hole golf course. A map showing the boundary of the conservation area is available to download at the bottom of the page.

The Old Hall was for some time the residence of the engineer James Brindley (1716 to 1771), employed by the Duke of Bridgewater between 1742 and 1759, during which time he designed and built the Bridgewater Canal and the Barton Aqueduct.

The former Worsley Old Hall farm adjoins Worsley Old Hall and is situated on the edge of Old Hall parkland. The Old Hall demesne farm existed on or near this site in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was let to tenant farmers until 1760 when John Gilbert, the Duke of Bridgewater's agent and designer of the underground canal system at the delph, took responsibility for the farm.

Lord Francis Egerton, who was created first Earl of Ellesmere in 1846, arranged for a new farm complex to be built. Worsley New Hall, an Elizabethan gothic style building designed by the architect William Blore, was then subsequently demolished in 1949. The farm also appears to have been designed by Blore, being well planned and very modern for its time. Although the majority of farm buildings fell into a state of disrepair, portions were rebuilt and extended in 1998/9 to form the Marriott Hotel.

Update

Worsley Old Hall was converted into a restaurant in 1998/9 as work was nearing completion on the adjacent farm building complex that was to become the Marriott Hotel. Both projects required the construction of a new vehicular access from Walkden Road, which involved the demolition of the existing stone boundary wall and with it the relocation of the stone tablet marking the boundary between Higher and Lower Worsley, which is now located outside the main entrance of the Marriott Hotel. The tablet was defaced in World War II to disorientate any invading forces.

This page was last updated on 7 April 2016