Building record 611/1/2 - North Barn at Hurst Hall

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 58896 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Part of an old hall late fifteenth century but now a barn. Exposed pair of posts with arch braces but mainly clad in thin early red bricks with stone slate roof. Two full bays and two half bays at ends, single storey and open to the roof. Large full height openings both sides of building. The posts carry a roof truss with arch bracing to cambered tie beams; two other similar trusses are carried on walls, these have cusped king posts and struts which support two rows of oak purlins and ridgetree and three tiers of quatrefoil wind braces.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ 69 NE 6 (Index). SCH2487.

See (3), (4), & (9). Also see (8) - Hurst Hall, Glazebrook is ten miles west of Manchester but is considered to be the Hurst Hall referred to in this entry. [name illegible 12/09/1955].

A timber-laced building of early brick now in use as a farmhouse. The living wing of the Hall has been completely rebuilt and the front (south face) has been pebble-dashed, the adjacent outbuildings are, however, mainly original. Architectural features visible consist of windows, of from one to four lights with wood-moulding over decorative brick moulding and diamond decoration. The timbering, where visible, is in excellent condition, having been oiled, treated and preserved. Of particular note in the outbuildings is a half-timbered barn with all beams, trusses and tie-bars original and pegged; the roof, of stone slate, is also original. Extant early architecture indicates a sixteenth century period of construction. The owner confirmed the published name. [F.D. Colquhoun F.I. 25/03/1959].

<3> Baines, Edward, 1868-91, The History of The County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster, Vol.III p.632 (Book). SCH1442.

“Hurst-hall in this township, degenerated into a farmhouse, was the residence of Thomas Holcroft [the Holcrofts were ‘traffickers in monastic property’] in 1692.”

<4> Farrer W & Brownbill J, 1919, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume III, p.156 (Book). SCH9731.

“Culcheth proper has Carr, Hurst, Fowley and Twiss Green in the north-west, north-east, south-east, and south-west corners; the village of Glazebury [formerly known as Bury Lane] has sprung up in the last thirty years by Hurst, on the banks of the Glazebrook. The hall is to the east of Twiss Green.”

<6> Keery R, 1992, Historic Culcheth - The Story of a Village, p.79 (Book). SCH1359.

Reputed to have been the private chapel of Hurst Hall

<7> Pevsner N, 1969, The Buildings of England: South Lancashire, p.114 (Book). SCH3081.

Pevsner suggests the barn must have been the hall of a fifteenth century house.

<8> Smith E.C., 1869, Archaeology in the Mersey District 1868, p.205 (Article in Journal). SCH9730.

“The coin was met with at Hurst Hall, ten miles north-westward of Manchester, a Tudor mansion now converted into a farm-house, but occupied by successive members of one family for the last century and a half. The portion of the park grounds where it was unearthed (eight inches deep), had not previously been ploughed within memory of the residents.”

<9> Department of the Environment, 1964, Department of the Environment (HHR), Golborne Urban District Aug 1963 3 (Report). SCH9680.

Hurst Hall; sixteenth century complex of buildings on three sides of yard, including a barn with a pair of uprights supporting a roof truss. Grade 3.

<10> Historic England, 1940-2021, The Historic England Archive, IOE01/01555/19 (09/08/2000), DP006039 - DP006043 (28/09/2005) (Paper Archive). SCH9105.

<11> Department of the Environment, 1964, Department of the Environment (HHR), Borough of Warrington Cheshire August 1983 8 (Report). SCH9680.

Part of an old late fifteenth century hall now a barn at Hurst hall. Exposed pair of posts with arch braces but mainly clad in thin early red bricks with stone slate roof. Single storey with two full bays and two half- bays at ends. Grade II*.

<12> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R, 17/02/2025 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The location provided by (1) and (2) are very inaccurate. Photographs of the barn, taken in 2000 and 2005 (see 10), would appear to confirm the location of the building to direct south of Duckinfield Farm and east of Hurst Hall Farm.