The History of Astley Hall – John Ball

The Brindle Historical Society were delighted to welcome a history enthusiast, John Ball to give us a very informative talk on the history of Astley Hall on Monday 15^th May.  We were given the story of the hall and its various owners through the years.  The present hall dates from the 1570s, but the site was inhabited from the 13^th century.  In fact, during excavations in 1963, some urns were discovered dating from the bronze age and it is thought that these were from a burial mound close by.

Robert Charnock, the hall’s owner from the late 16^th century, was a generous benefactor to the town, and gifted £6 plus all the bricks used to build the original grammar school in 1611.  (He also owned a brick factory, so this may have also been beneficial to him!).  The grand brick frontage of the hall was erected in 1665, when Margaret Charnock married Richard Brooke.

After the Great War, Sir Reginald Tatton gifted the hall (but not the grounds) to the town as a memorial to the war dead.  The grounds were later purchased with money from a public subscription (which today would be called ‘crowdfunding’).  A film produced in 1922 shows the commemorations at the time the park Memorial Entrance gates were officially opened along with the cenotaph near Park Road.

A question that was put to the speaker was about the rendering which, until recently, covered the front elevation.  No-one was really sure why this was applied to the beautiful bricks beneath, especially since all but a very few were revealed to be in excellent condition once the rendering was removed.  The hall now looks as splendid as it did following its initial construction.