Stayley Hall, also known as Staley Hall, is 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 Ire ...

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census. Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and north-west of Glossop. When ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

. The structure dates back to at least the early 15th century. The first records of the ''de Stavelegh'' family as

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 seignor ...

of Staley date from the early 13th century. Stayley Hall was their residence Stayley Hall is referred to in the diaries of Sir Ralph Staley (Stavelegh) in the early 15th century. The hall was originally

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 wooden ...

, but was stone-clad during the 17th century. It is situated on a knoll making defence of the building a relatively easy affair. The external walls and the roofing slabs are made from locally quarried

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for ...

. The inside of the building has been altered as parts of it were let as cottage tenements and the plaster has fallen off showing the original lattices of wicker work and clay daub. Part of the staircase still remained in 1871 although the floor was dilapidated even then. Sir Ralph Staley had no male heirs and after his death his daughter, Elizabeth Staley, married Sir Thomas Assheton, uniting the manors of Ashton and Staley. Elizabeth and Thomas had no sons. Margaret, the eldest of their two daughters married Sir William Booth of

Dunham Massey Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouses and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Hall and Park, formerly t ...

The younger daughter Elizabeth was widowed and without children. She continued to live at Stayley Hall until her death in 1553. In her will she left her share of the lordships of Ashton and Staley to the Booths. The hall remained in the possession of the Booth family until the death of

George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (2 May 1675 – 2 August 1758) was an English peer and landowner, who amassed a fine collection of silver. Life Born at Mere Hall, Cheshire, on 2 May 1675, the second son of Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warring ...

on 2 August 1758. Upon his death, the Earldom of Warrington became extinct. His only daughter, Lady Mary Booth, who was the wife of

Harry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford Harry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford (18 June 1715 – 30 May 1768) was an English peer, styled Lord Grey from 1720 to 1739. Harry Grey was born at Enville Hall, the eldest son of Henry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford. He was educated at Rugby and Wes ...

, inherited all the Booth estates. The hall was then owned by the Grey family until the extinction of the Earldom of Stamford on the death of Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford in 1976. John Wesley visited Stayley Hall in 1745 and a commemorative stone tablet was placed on the Hall's wall around the time of the visit. In 2004 the

Metropolitan Borough Council A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolita ...

announced that they had granted permission to a developer to build 16 homes next to Stayley Hall. A condition of the planning consent was that the hall be restored. The developer has converted the hall and outbuildings into houses and apartments, most of which are now occupied.

References

External links

Buildings at Risk registerFlickr 'buildings at risk' image gallery/group.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stayley Hall Country houses in Greater Manchester Structures on the Heritage at Risk register Buildings and structures in Tameside Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester Stalybridge

See also

References

External links