A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



A further repair appears to have taken place about 

 1849; and in 1894, the hall having fallen into decay, 

 a further and more complete restoration was carried 

 out. For about twenty years before this time the 

 house was unoccupied, with the exception of the east 

 wing, which had been made into three cottages, ten- 

 anted by colliers. During that period it had only 

 been so far repaired as to be kept weather-proof, and 

 had suffered some damage from the coal-workings be- 

 neath it. The only two living-rooms were those now 

 called the boudoir and the dining-room ; the lower 

 part of the hall was a washhouse, and its upper part 

 divided into several rooms, and the minstrels' gallery 

 used as a dovecote. The principal entrance to the 

 house from the courtyard had been built up and a 

 later one made on the west side near to the staircase 

 bay. Other rooms were used as places for firewood 



right up to the walls on this side, if this view is to be 

 taken as correct. The ground is now levelled right 

 up to the building. The elevation on this side is of 

 brick, and is about 60 ft. in length, standing in front 

 of the rest of the house. The roof, which was for- 

 merly lower on the east side of the gatehouse, is now 

 of uniform height and pitch with overhanging eaves 

 and a plaster cove. The appearance of the house on 

 this side, relieved only by the central gateway with its 

 single gable and two tall chimney-stacks, is plain and 

 uninteresting, the end gables of the two side wings of 

 the quadrangle standing too far back to enter into the 

 composition of the north front. To the west of the 

 gatehouse, the recess formed by the junction of the 

 north and west wings is now occupied by a low one- 

 story addition erected in 1895-6. 



The courtyard is of irregular shape, none of its 



A mCHE CONTA1NIN6 SKULU; 

 TMC PW!3trtT GUM ROOM IS THE OLD BUTTERY, 

 Ttie SERVA/lTS'quAinERS Wt IN THE. 

 CAST WlrtG 4 TWC MAM DEDAOOnS Irt THE WtSI 



PLAN OF WARDLEY HALL 



and rubbish, and the whole structure had been most 

 cruelly mutilated. The work aimed at restoring as 

 much of the building as possible to something like its 

 former state, and reconstructing the remainder. 



The house is of two stories throughout, and the 

 entrance is under a gatehouse on the north side of the 

 quadrangle. Immediately opposite, and occupying 

 the whole of the south side of the courtyard, is the 

 great hall. The family apartments were no doubt 

 originally in the west wing, and the servants' rooms 

 in the east wing. The west wing now contains the 

 dining-room, kitchen, and offices, while the east wing, 

 which has been successively used as cottages and stables, 

 was converted into a drawing-room and study in 1903. 



The gatehouse was formerly approached over a 

 bridge, and is so shown in Philips's view of the house 

 made about 1 822, 96 the moat at that time coming 



sides being square with the others, and measures about 

 45 ft. by 35 ft., the greater length being from west to 

 east. The east and west wings, which converge 

 slightly to the south, are said to follow the lines of 

 two streams which fed the moat. 96 All the outside 

 elevations, with the exception of the central portion 

 of the south front, which is of timber, are of brick 

 with stone dressings and with timber in some of the 

 gables, and all the windows are new, both in the 

 brick and timber portions of the house. Three sides 

 of the courtyard are of timber on a stone base, the 

 north or gatehouse side only being of brick. The 

 roofs are covered with stone slates. 



The entrance to the house by the courtyard is by 

 the door at the north end of the passage behind the 

 screen. The passage is still retained and on the side 

 opposite the hall has its two doors to the east wing. 



6 Henry Taylor, Old Halh in Lanes, and Chet. 47. 

 386 



Ibid. 



