Lydiate Hall was a 16th-century hall in
Lydiate,
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The hall was a black-and-white half-timbered house, and was similar in design to
Speke Hall. The hall was accompanied by a private chapel. It was a known
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
house during the time of
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...
, and the building contained at least three
priest holes. The hall became a
ruin
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
in the early 20th century, and is now part of the grounds of Lydiate Hall Farm on Southport Road, Lydiate. It is now part of a conservation area, along with the nearby
Scotch Piper Inn and
St Catherine's Chapel.
Its ruins were
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
in 1968.
History
Construction and early history
The building was constructed in the 15th and 16th century, and was altered in the 19th century. The founders were Laurence Ireland and his wife Katherine Blundell. Ireland is believed to been responsible for the later extensions to the house sometime around 1451. The hall and its chapel were inherited by Edward Ireland in 1609.
The building was originally a quadrangle plan with an enclosed
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...
, with the front being the oldest portion of stone construction and surrounded by a
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
. During the late 18th century, then owner
Henry Blundell authorised significant demolition of the hall, particularly the areas that were considered picturesque and in turn removing all trace of the principle frontage.
19th century

A fire was reported to have alighted in the wash-house in November 1877. The burning smell attracted attention from local people and was quickly extinguished. Concerns were expressed that any fire starting in the building could result in its total destruction due to its significant quantities of ancient oak. By the late 1880s, the hall, then owned by Mr
Weld-Blundell of Ince, it was described as "fast decaying". and as being in a dilapidated state, with no repairs being undertaken. In 1907, the unoccupied property was burgled of its family heirloom paintings, which had to remain in the property under a clause in the will of a previous owner. The stolen artwork were cut from their frames, with the thieves said to "have gone about their work with great deliberation".
20th century
As of the 20th century, the foundations exist, along with the brick and stone structure with 19th century windows on the ground and first floor; the timber-framed hall was completely demolished. A partial collar and strut roof with moulded
tie beams remained as of 1985, as well as a Tudor-headed fireplace with shield and cornice and a 19th-century range.
In 1994, a planning application for Listed Building Consent was submitted to
Sefton Council, proposing the partial demolition of areas of the old hall that were deemed to be unstable, to allow for archaeological research. By this time, there was no surviving timber from the 16th century of earlier, with just a single stone chimney stack the oldest feature to be intact.
Preservation proposals continued to be reported in early 1996, with the home, believed to have at one time been owned by
Lord William Lever, was being held together with
scaffold.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Lydiate
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{coord, 53.5388, -2.9631, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000
Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton
Ruins in Merseyside
Grade II listed buildings in Merseyside