SMI7HII.LS HALL. 





spit. Tlir t- 

 t Smithills 

 .in- line 

 : e 



Uld 



.iJJ 



the- pictures. 



Ill so:i;e pi. i 



i\ y > tlw 



structure, as 



well HIS 



llowerm;: pl.uit>. 

 t , rally 



Uinj; it t 

 :nat the 



d, 



s i in p 1 1- , .1 n J 

 appropriate. In 

 this, of cou: 

 there is a 



i It 



that much may 

 he achieved 

 without either 



it labour or u ; nse; and in this matter Smithills 



might well he an i-\ unple. 



The site of the Hall pre.-ents many analogies to those of 

 other Lancashire house-;, and it is reasonable to think that 

 it was selected because ot the facilities it presented for defence. 

 In this matter it is like A^ecrott, Little Bolton Hall, and the 

 well-known " Hall i' th* Wood" in the same neighbour!) .J. 

 Smithiils stand^ on the ed-e f a steep cliff, at the bottom of 

 which ll-.ws .1 tributary oi the river Ton^e, while on the 

 other side-, in former times, there was the p otection of 

 a moat. 



The \i\i-n which results from the steep declivity adds 

 picturesqueness to the place, and a rocky bridge and overil >w 

 have a i agreeable touch of wildness, and \ve to the park 

 a gre..t deal of natural charm. The water of the nU-n comes 

 d-iwn from the hills above, forms a basin or lake, and runs 

 into a rivine of rock towards Bolton and the busy places 

 which lie at the foot of the hill. The arrangement of the 



TMK OOSPhL HALL, EAST SIDE. 



^r shall pri- 

 vy be des- 

 cribed, but, while 

 we are speaking 



Of It- Mtll.itl "II, 



it may be 

 interesting t" 

 s.iy tint the old 

 te-houne 



M-cins to have 

 Iven at tin- 



south-west 



Col h' i ol t e 



quadrangle, 



.IS IS 111. 



bv an aveiuii- 

 oi limes \\hich 

 I .uls that wa\ . 

 I hi- quadia: 

 is not eiiilost-.l, 

 .is i 11 so in e 

 hoiisi-s nt 

 class, hut is 

 open on the 

 south side, and 

 the more modern t-recti >ns have be -n a.ld-d in an CVU-IIM m 

 westward. 



In very ancient tim.sthe place Ivlon^-d to the yreat lious t - 

 it Lacy, and it pass t \| to the Stanleys oi L.ithom, and then to 

 the K.ulclilfes, who ueie seated at Smithills m the rei^n of 

 ird ML, and were a branch of the Ka.lcliftes of Had htle 

 Tower. Joanna, the daughter and heiress ot Sir Ralph 

 Kadcliffe, conveyed Smithills to her husband, Ralph Barton <i| 

 Home, Esquire, at some date after 14,0. The older poitions 

 of the present house at Smithills. \\ ith their singular enrich- 

 ments, and very tine i iternal carvings, were built by Sir 

 Andrew Barton in the rei^n of Henry \ II., and it is interesting 

 to note that the rebus uf his njme a bar and a ton with 

 the initials "A.B.," still remains in the panelling of the 

 dining-room. 



It was durum the residence of the Bartons at Smithills 

 that a somewhat remarkable episode occurred there. Those 

 were bitter times, whe i the hand of one man was oit-n set 



THE GAkUEN IkOM OF SMI THILLS HALL. 



