Mawdesley Hall is a country manor in Hall Lane,

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 ...

, Chorley,

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 consists of a central hall with two cross-wings. The central hall was built in the 17th century, its lower storey being

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

and its upper floor plastered and painted to resemble timber-framing. The cross-wings were added in the late 18th or early 19th century. The west wing is 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 ...

, and the east wing is in brick with stone dressings. The hall is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade I

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 ...

. Associated with the hall are two Grade II listed buildings. Leading up to the garden of the hall is a flight of stone steps that are dated 1653. To the northwest of the hall is a timber-framed former cattle house that was built in the late 16th or early 17th century.

Location

Mawdesley Hall stands at the north end of the village of Mawdesley in an elevated position about or above the road. It is built on an outcrop of

about from the road.

History

The original part of the hall was built in the 17th century and was the home of the Mawdesley family. Inside the hall the dates 1625 and 1655 are inscribed. Towards the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th century wings were added to each end of the original hall. Later a lean-to building was added to the rear of the hall.

Architecture

The building is in two storeys, and has an H-shaped plan, consisting of a two- bay central hall, with two two-bay cross-wings. The roof is covered in stone-coloured tiles, and is hipped over the fronts of the wings. Each part of the house is built in different materials. The central hall measures about across. Its lower storey is

with plaster panels on a stone

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

. The upper floor is

jettied Jettying (jetty, jutty, from Old French ''getee, jette'') is a building technique used in medieval timber-frame buildings in which an upper floor projects beyond the dimensions of the floor below. This has the advantage of increasing the avail ...

and is plastered, and is painted to give the appearance of timber-framing. Towards the right end of the lower storey is a doorway and to the left of this is a long

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed and transomed window. In the upper floor are three casement windows that were inserted later. The left (west) wing projects forward by , it is in red sandstone with yellow stone dressings, and has chamfered

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

. The windows have architraves with keystones, and sills on corbels. The right (east) wing projects forward by , it is in brick with stone quoins, and contains square-headed windows.

Appreciation

Mawdesley Hall was designated as a Grade I

on 22 October 1952. Grade I is the highest of the three grades of listing, and is applied to buildings that are "of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important".

Associated structures

Entrance steps

Leading up from the road to the garden of the hall is a flight of eight sandstone steps that are dated 1653. They are protected on the outside by a sloping

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'). ...

with roll- moulded

coping Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviours and can be individual or social. Theories of coping Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to ...

. The steps incorporate an enclosed viewing platform on an open-topped turret with loopholes on its sides. They were designed as a Grade II listed building on 22 October 1952. Grade II is the lowest of the grades of listing, and is applied to buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".

Former cattle house

To the northwest of the hall is a former cattle house, which was later used as a store. It dates from the 16th or early 17th century, and is timber-framed on a high sandstone plinth, with a roof of stone-coloured tiles. It has four bays, with an outshut at the rear of the third bay. The panels are plastered and painted white. On each side there are four doorways. The cattle house wa also designated as a Grade II listed building on 22 October 1952.