We've wanted a look at this for a while and with us having our lad with us today we thought this would be a good one to take him too. The caretaker is more than happy to let people explore it so we armed our lad with our old bridge camera so he could get involved and went for a mooch. It's residential but we thought it would meet the requirements of interesting architecture and history.
History - Early records indicate that the land of Woolton Hall had been occupied since 1180 when the area of Much Woolton (now called Woolton) came under the lordship of the holy Catholic order of the Knights Hospitaller. The hall itself was built by politician Richard Molyneux, 1st Viscount Molynuex in 1704. In 1772 Woolton Hall was acquired by Nicholas Ashton, a former High Sheriff of Lancashire, whose father was one of the original undertakers and the principal financier of the Sankey Canal, the first canal of the British industrial revolution at this time it was extensively renovated by the influential architect Robert Adam the building is praised as the finest example of Robert Adman's work in Northern England.
Nicholas Ashton died in 1833 leaving the house to his son Joseph Ashton who in turn left it to his son Charles Ellis Ashton. Charles Ellis later sold the house in 1865 to James Reddecliffe Jeffery who was the owner of Liverpool's largest department store Compton House, located on Church Street. A fire at the store on 1 December 1865 destroyed much of Jeffery's uninsured stock eventually leading to the business failing. Jeffery put the house up for action in 1869 but failed to find a buyer until 1877 when Liverpool shipowner Frederick Richards Leyland purchased the house for £19,000. Leyland later sold the building to the McGuffies a family of shipowners who demolished the west wing and converted it into a Hydropathic hotel. After living there for some 30 years the hotel closed in 1912.
After a short spell as the headquarters of the Middlesex Regiment and as an army hospital in the 1950s the building was converted into a girls school under the management of the Convent of Notre Damme In 1970 the small school merged with Notre Damme High School located on Mount Pleasant to form Notre Dame Woolton. As the school expanded new modern buildings were built nearby leading to Woolton Hall to be abandoned.
Soon the building fell into disrepair, eventually being marked for demolition in the 1980s. The building was saved after local resident and current caretaker John Hibbert purchased the Hall and spent £100,000 in refurbishments, soon after Woolton Hall become a Grade I listed building on 28 June 1982. The hall was used as a masonic lodge for a number of years, we think this was it's last use. In 2005, there were plans to convert the estate and house into retirement care flats although this has never materialised.
Explore - This was a permission visit. John Hibbert who once owned and lived in the hall is now it's caretaker and is very passionate about the place and is happy for people to explore it. The hall is an amazing place to mooch around, lovely features everywhere and quite a bit of decay creeping in. With us having our lad out with us today we couldn't go to anywhere dangerous or sketchy so this place was great to let him take some pictures and get a bit of a taste of urbex without the risk. It was a really cool place and really enjoyable to wonder round.
Thanks for looking.
History - Early records indicate that the land of Woolton Hall had been occupied since 1180 when the area of Much Woolton (now called Woolton) came under the lordship of the holy Catholic order of the Knights Hospitaller. The hall itself was built by politician Richard Molyneux, 1st Viscount Molynuex in 1704. In 1772 Woolton Hall was acquired by Nicholas Ashton, a former High Sheriff of Lancashire, whose father was one of the original undertakers and the principal financier of the Sankey Canal, the first canal of the British industrial revolution at this time it was extensively renovated by the influential architect Robert Adam the building is praised as the finest example of Robert Adman's work in Northern England.
Nicholas Ashton died in 1833 leaving the house to his son Joseph Ashton who in turn left it to his son Charles Ellis Ashton. Charles Ellis later sold the house in 1865 to James Reddecliffe Jeffery who was the owner of Liverpool's largest department store Compton House, located on Church Street. A fire at the store on 1 December 1865 destroyed much of Jeffery's uninsured stock eventually leading to the business failing. Jeffery put the house up for action in 1869 but failed to find a buyer until 1877 when Liverpool shipowner Frederick Richards Leyland purchased the house for £19,000. Leyland later sold the building to the McGuffies a family of shipowners who demolished the west wing and converted it into a Hydropathic hotel. After living there for some 30 years the hotel closed in 1912.
After a short spell as the headquarters of the Middlesex Regiment and as an army hospital in the 1950s the building was converted into a girls school under the management of the Convent of Notre Damme In 1970 the small school merged with Notre Damme High School located on Mount Pleasant to form Notre Dame Woolton. As the school expanded new modern buildings were built nearby leading to Woolton Hall to be abandoned.
Soon the building fell into disrepair, eventually being marked for demolition in the 1980s. The building was saved after local resident and current caretaker John Hibbert purchased the Hall and spent £100,000 in refurbishments, soon after Woolton Hall become a Grade I listed building on 28 June 1982. The hall was used as a masonic lodge for a number of years, we think this was it's last use. In 2005, there were plans to convert the estate and house into retirement care flats although this has never materialised.
Explore - This was a permission visit. John Hibbert who once owned and lived in the hall is now it's caretaker and is very passionate about the place and is happy for people to explore it. The hall is an amazing place to mooch around, lovely features everywhere and quite a bit of decay creeping in. With us having our lad out with us today we couldn't go to anywhere dangerous or sketchy so this place was great to let him take some pictures and get a bit of a taste of urbex without the risk. It was a really cool place and really enjoyable to wonder round.
Thanks for looking.