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Bispham Hall

Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of WiganCountry houses in Greater ManchesterElizabethan architectureGrade II* listed buildings in Greater ManchesterGrade II* listed houses
Bispham Hall Brick Works geograph.org.uk 891255
Bispham Hall Brick Works geograph.org.uk 891255

Bispham Hall is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan country house in Billinge, now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.The hall was built in 1573 but has been extended since. It is constructed to an E-shaped plan in dressed stone with ashlar dressings in three storeys, with a frontage of five gabled bays. The 2nd and 4th bays project but the 1st and 5th bays project even further and are wider. Despite interior damage caused by fire, the hall remains one of the most complete examples of 16th century architecture in the historic county of Lancashire. The surrounding park, at one time much larger than the 60-acre estate which exists today, had extensive woodlands which contain an 1815 monument to the Duke of Wellington and a smaller monument to either a horse or dog called Dash. Bispham Hall was named after the Bispham family who acquired the estate by marriage in 1346 and held it until 1730. It then passed to the Leigh family of Whitley Hall, Wigan. In 1825 the property had descended to John Holt, who had inherited it in 1816 from his unmarried brother Robert. In 1841 John Holt left the property to William Mills, a distant relative of Cheshire, on condition that the latter adopted the surname of Holt. On William's death the estate passed to his son William Thomas, who died in 1857, leaving it to be divided between his six sisters, whereby it was sold in 1871 to coal-producer Meyrick Holmes Bankes of Winstanley Hall.The Bispham estate was acquired by the Boy Scout Association in 1948 as an activity centre. The hall itself was gutted by a fire in 1977 or 1978, but has been since restored by the Vivat Trust and is now privately owned. The Scout activity centre provides, in addition to indoor accommodation facilities, field camping areas for large groups and smaller woodland clearings for smaller groups. Varied outdoor facilities are organised, including climbing, orienteering, canoeing and team sports. Local legend tells how the ghost of Nellie Bispham haunts the woods around Bispham Hall.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bispham Hall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

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Latitude Longitude
N 53.516724 ° E -2.720148 °
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WN5 7EU , Higher End
England, United Kingdom
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Bispham Hall Brick Works geograph.org.uk 891255
Bispham Hall Brick Works geograph.org.uk 891255
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Nearby Places

Billinge Hill
Billinge Hill

Billinge Hill, also known as Billinge Lump, is in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in North West England. With a maximum elevation of 179 m (587 ft), it is the highest point of Merseyside. It lies in Billinge, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, and it is one of the 176 hills graded as a Marilyn in England. A beacon tower is at the summit. Built as a summerhouse to Winstanley Hall in the 18th century, it was used for the Year 2000 celebrations. Most fireworks displays for miles around can be seen from the summit and people often gather there in small numbers to watch displays over the towns of Wigan and St Helens and the local village of Rainford. Over the years it has been covered in graffiti which was recently cleaned off and the metal panels restricting access to the inside of the beacon have been painted black. Nearby to the north-west are several large transmitter masts which take advantage of the height and relative isolation of the land. The views are fairly extensive, notably to the southwest where, when clear, the mountains of Snowdonia, in Wales, can be seen and to the northeast Winter Hill can be seen. Looking east one sees Manchester and the Derbyshire Peak District. On a clear day, it is possible to see Blackpool Tower just over 25 miles (40 kilometres) away, the town of St. Helens and the Widnes–Runcorn bridge. Depending on the conditions and direction it is facing, the telescope at Jodrell Bank can be seen to the southeast, also just over 25 miles (40 kilometres) away. Billinge Hill was also used by the Royal Observer Corps, and there was a bunker at the site, 60 yards (55 metres) west of and below the beacon. The beacon itself was used for aircraft observation during and after the war. The bunker would have been used to monitor the location of nuclear blasts and the resulting fallout over Lancashire in the event of nuclear war. The post opened in January 1960 and closed in October 1968.