SALFORD HUNDRED 



DEANE 



There is a tradition of a house on the present site 

 as far back as the year 680, and that date is rather 

 humorously carved on a stone over the door to the 

 great hall, 38 but the oldest part of the present building 

 probably belongs to the early part of the I5th cen- 

 tury, and may be even later. The rest of the house 

 is of different dates continually altered and added to. 

 The western part has been so much altered that it is 

 difficult to reconstruct the original plan, but the north 

 and east wings of the older part of the house yet 

 constitute one of the most interesting examples of 

 timber construction in Lancashire, though much 

 changed in appearance by later additions in stone. 



With its modern extensions at the west, the house, 

 which is of two stories, has a long frontage facing south 

 of over 270 ft., well broken up both as regards plan 

 and skyline, and forming a composition of great pic- 

 turesqueness. The walls are variously of stone and 

 timber, these materials being used in the modern 

 work, and all the roofs have stone slates. Almost the 

 whole of the walling to the old part of the house, 

 however, has been restored or otherwise renewed, 

 whether in stone or timber and plaster, but portions 



of the ancient construction are preserved and show in 

 several places. The greatest part of the ancient work, 

 however, is best seen from the inside. 



The oldest part of the house lies to the east and is 

 built on three sides of a quadrangle about 60 ft. wide 

 and 70 ft. from north to south, open on the south 

 side. The great hall occupies the north wing, with 

 the great chamber at its east end, and the kitchen and 

 offices on the west. The east wing, containing the 

 family apartments, terminates at the south with the 

 domestic chapel, approached by a corridor next the 

 courtyard. The staircase is in the north-east angle, 

 forming an external bay with a gable facing west. 

 Between the chapel and the great chamber is a large 

 room, possibly a withdrawing - room, with a large 

 bay window looking east. The north and east wings 

 being no longer inhabited retain the original charac- 

 teristics of the ancient plan, though much altered 

 from time to time ; but the old west wing has been so 

 much modernized that the original arrangement ot 

 rooms has been to a great extent lost, though the 

 kitchen and offices occupy pretty much their old 

 position. The house seems to have been extended 



* so to TO to p w 



15 



16 . 



I6 1 * - REBUlLl 

 1579. REBUILT 

 MODERN 



88 The stone bearing this date is said 

 to have been found about 1820 at Smith- 



PLAN OF SMITHILLS HALL 

 (The modern west wing is not shown) 



ills and 'placed over the portico to be 

 more conspicuous.' See Bolton Reflector, 



15 



16 Aug. 1823, quoted in Hist. Ghan. of 

 Bolton and District (First Series, 1881), 15. 



