winstanley hall, wigan. sep 08

after failed attempts at another site me over gimbulate meet up with spark, we then headed up to winstanley hall (thanks to spark for this one!) only spent 1 hour in there as after been on the roof the lighting was a problem and with the lack of some of the upper floors we thought best to get off, but spark had other ideas and followed up a drain lead on the way out if i remember correctly!

historyThe hall was built in the 1560s for the Winstanley family of Wigan; the Winstanley family were lords of the manor since at least 1252 and may have been responsible for building the moat on the site. The Winstanleys owned the hall until 1596, when the estate was sold to James Bankes, a London goldsmith and banker. Winstanley Hall has three storeys and has a date stone with a date of 1584. Extra blocks were added in the 17th and 18th centuries. Further and extensive alterations were made in 1811-19 by Lewis Wyatt in a Jacobean style. He moved the entrance to the left flank of the hall and replacing the original entrance with a window. The final additions to the hall were made in 1843 when an extra wing was added. To the south, on lands belonging to the hall, is a small stone building which was used to house bears that provided entertainment for the hall's guests.The Banks retained ownership of the hall until the 21st century when it was sold for private development. The hall had been kept in good condition until the 1960s when habitation stopped. As the building decayed and the cost of maintaining Winstanley Hall was too much for the family it was sold on. It was intended to develop the hall into private flats, however refurbishment was held up due to Wigan council withholding planning permission.