Smithills HalL 221 



attacking granite columns. As at Turton, the material 

 is twofold, a portion being magpie, believed to have 

 been put together in 1483, while the remainder is grey 

 stone, erected in 1648; the former, to appearance, 

 wholly untouched, and the latter altered only by the 

 introduction, at a little later period than that of the 

 building of the walls, of some mouldings and other 

 exterior ornaments. Altogether, the hall is unquestion- 

 ably to be regarded as a first-rate specimen of the style 

 it illustrates. This is proved by its having often been 

 taken as a model for modern Elizabethan houses we 

 do not mean by copyists, but by the men of higher 

 platform those with whom knowledge and learning are 

 never the limit of thought, but only the basis.* 



Smithills Hall, now the residence of Mr. R. H. 

 Ainsworth, claims to occupy the site of an ancient 

 Norman abode, which itself, if all be true in the legends, 

 succeeded a Saxon palatial one. There can be no doubt 

 that the spot is one of genuine historical interest. A 

 chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was consecrated 

 at Smithills in 793, nearly a hundred years before the 

 time of King Alfred; and the locality, like that of 

 Hall-i'th'-Wood, is precisely of the kind that would be 

 selected for their stronghold by the lords then having 

 authority over the district, being at the head of two or 

 three beautiful little glens, at once charming in com- 

 plexion, and facilitating defence in case of assault. 



* See an excellent description of Hall-i'th'-Wood, accompanied by 

 a drawing, in the Manchester Literary Club volume for 1880, p. 254. 



