Rufford New Hall is a former
country house that belonged to the Heskeths who were
lords of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...
of
Rufford,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, England. It replaced
Rufford Old Hall
Rufford Old Hall is a National Trust property in Rufford, Lancashire, England. Built in about 1530 for Sir Robert Hesketh, only the Great Hall survives from the original structure. A brick-built wing in the Jacobean style was added in 1661, at ...
as their residence in 1760. From 1920 to 1987 it was used as a hospital and has subsequently been restored and converted for residential use. It was designated a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
in 1986.
History
![Rufford New Hall Portico Entrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Rufford_New_Hall_Portico_Entrance.JPG)
Rufford New Hall was built in 1760. The country house was built by Sir Robert Hesketh and enlarged by his grandson around 1798-9 when the Heskeths left Rufford Old Hall. Heskeths lived at Rufford New Hall until 1919.
The hall is built in brick which was formerly
stuccoed. It has a low-pitched hipped slate roof concealed by a low
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
. The two storey symmetrical frontage has a five-bay
facade with an
Ionic portico of unfluted columns over a wide doorway with a
fanlight. The hall has four 15-paned
sashed windows on the ground floor, with five 12-paned windows on the first. Some spout heads bear the initials of Sir Thomas Dalrymple Hesketh and the date 1811 and one is dated 1822. The entrance hall has a cantilevered or flying stone staircase and landing on three sides with wrought iron
balusters and is lighted by a domed oval
skylight.
The main hall has columns and
pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s made from
Scagliola
Scagliola (from the Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inla ...
marble.
Hospital
Rufford New Hall was bought by
Lancashire County Council in 1920 and converted for use as a hospital. Rufford Pulmonary Hospital opened on 6 August 1926. It had 50 beds to treat patients with
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
.
Subsequently, it was used by the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
as a pre-convalescent hospital until its closure in 1987.
The convalescent hospital was administered by
Ormskirk District General Hospital
Ormskirk and District General Hospital is an acute hospital at Ormskirk, Lancashire. It is managed by the Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust.
History
The hospital has its origins in the Ormskirk Union Workhouse Infirmary which was establis ...
.
Rufford Park
The Heskeths created Rufford Park around the hall, with a deer park, a
ha-ha
A ha-ha (french: hâ-hâ or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view ...
, and leisure gardens surrounded by a stone wall. Rufford Park extended from the boundary with
Holmeswood
Holmeswood is a small agricultural village in West Lancashire, in the north-west of England. It lies just north of the Martin Mere Wetland Centre and to the south of North Meols about six miles east of the Irish Sea coast at Southport.
The v ...
to the boundary with
Croston
Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917.
History
Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...
and
Mawdesley
Mawdesley is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, which had a population of 1,702 at the 2011 Census.
History
The name Mawdesley is thought to have originated in the reign of Edward I (1272–1308). The suffix -''ley'' describe ...
. The area was divided by the Liverpool-Preston Turnpike Road (the
A59 Liverpool Road). The development of the park resulted in cottages being demolished and their inhabitants relocated in the village. The park is screened by trees and contains an
ice house, a rose garden, a restored ornamental garden, lake, and plantations. The southern part of the park is designated a Biological Heritage Site, and is home to bats, red squirrels and other species of animals, shrubs and rare fungi.
Ice house
The ice house is a Grade II listed building, one of three survivors in the district. The building was renovated when the main hall was restored and is protected and maintained by the estate. It is circular, built in
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
, brick and earth with a domed roof above an underground chamber entered through a brick passage. Surrounding the ice house is a ha-ha forming a complete circle about in diameter. In winter ice was taken from the frozen lake to the ice house for storage for the rest of the year.
Lodges
![Rufford New Hall Gate Posts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Rufford_New_Hall_Gate_Posts.JPG)
Rufford New Hall had three lodges, which can be seen on the 1847
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...
map. Holmeswood Lodge was constructed in the early 19th century on Holmeswood Road. Hesketh Lodge was constructed in the early 19th century as the main entrance lodge. It was named after the original owners. It is a single storey building and is
stuccoed with stone dressings. Croston Lodge is the north entrance lodge on the
A59, Liverpool Road, built in 1798. It is a single storey brick building with a slate roof. Springwood Lodge is the former gamekeeper or gardener's cottage.
Restoration
![Rufford New Hall Garden Doorway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Rufford_New_Hall_Garden_Doorway.JPG)
The hall and north wing were restored and converted into apartments and
mews houses. The stone cantilevered staircase with the Hesketh family crest, the
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
belvedere tower and the oval glass dome on the roof have been retained. The hall retains its Ionic colonnades and portico.
The stable block has been converted to mews cottages. The formal gardens, ornamental ponds, lawns and tennis courts have been restored. The majority of trees around the hall are protected by a
Tree Preservation Order
A tree preservation order (TPO) is a part of town and country planning in the United Kingdom. A TPO is made by a local planning authority (usually a local council) to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate d ...
and include many species, the rarest being a
handkerchief tree.
Ghosts
The hall and its grounds are reputed to be haunted by four different ghosts.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Rufford, Lancashire
Rufford, Lancashire, Rufford is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It contains ten buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed building ...
References
External links
{{Buildings and structures in West Lancashire, state=collapsed
Country houses in Lancashire
Buildings and structures in the Borough of West Lancashire
Rufford, Lancashire