SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



north side of the house has been rebuilt in brick, 

 probably in the i jth century, and in recent years 

 has been covered with plaster. The south side has 

 been treated in a similar manner, and the plaster lined 

 to represent stone, so that the north and south walls 

 present little or nothing of their ancient appearance, 

 except in the upper windows, which preserve their 

 mullions and transoms, and in the wood and plaster 

 cove under the eaves. The roofs are covered with 

 grey stone slates, and the chimneys are of brick, that 

 from the great hall rising diagonally on plan directly 

 from the roof. The bay window and east wall of the 

 hall, however, retain their timber construction, the 

 bay window forming a picturesque feature at the east 

 end of the south front. 



The great hall is similar in plan to that at Denton 



hall, including the passage, is about 32 ft. 6 in. long, 

 and its width about 20 ft. It is lit on the north side 

 by two modern windows, and on the south by a bay 

 window in the south-east corner 8 ft. 6 in. square in- 

 side. The floor is paved with stone flags, rand the 

 ceiling is crossed by chamfered oak beams, two each 

 way, forming square panels filled in with plaster. The 

 walls are panelled in oak except in the bay window 

 and on the fireplace side, and the room contains a 

 collection of old furniture, the only piece, however, 

 which belongs to the house being the high table. 61 

 The hall was divided till recently into three rooms, 

 the bay window being one, and a wall down the centre 

 forming the others. When it was restored to its 

 original condition the great fireplace at the west end, 

 which is 1 1 ft. wide and 4 ft. deep, was opened out. 



HYDE HALL : ENTRANCE FRONT 



Hall, and though smaller may have been copied from 

 it. The door is at the north-west corner, opening 

 into a passage which once formed the screens, but is 

 now separated from the hall, as at Denton, by the 

 later insertion of a large fireplace. The passage is 

 still open at both ends, and has the two usual door- 

 ways leading from it opposite the hall. Both the 

 north and south walls, which are I ft. 9 in. thick, 

 have an external buttress, and there is a third at the 

 north-east angle where the timber and brickwork join. 

 The east wall of the great hall is of timber and plas- 

 ter, and was no doubt originally the interior wall 

 between the hall and the east wing of the house. 

 The timber construction shows on the outside, but 

 there is no attempt at ornament, the spaces between 

 the timbers being wide and filled with plaster. The 



The bay window of the hall is in two stories, as origi- 

 nally designed, built of timber and plaster, but on the 

 ground story the window opening is a modern one 

 of three lights with plaster at both sides and on the 

 returns. In the room above there are ten lights ex- 

 tending the whole length of the front of the bay, but 

 those in the returns are made up. The upper part 

 projects on a plaster cove, and the cove which runs 

 along both sides of the house under the eaves is'carried 

 round the top of the bay under the gable, the half- 

 timber work of which is now covered up with plaster, 

 and the barge boards of which have disappeared. 

 The doors at each end of the passage at the end of the 

 hall are the original ones of thick oak, nail studded, 

 and with good hinges, the doorways themselves being 

 of stone with chamfered jambs and four-centred heads. 



83 Information from Mr. James Watts, the owner. 

 317 



