The Remains of Ribbleton Hall

I have only been aware of these remains for a few years now.  I came across Grange Park on a walk to Brockholes Nature Reserve on evening several winters ago.  I would normally walk home the way I had come, back to Walton le Dale, via Fishwick.  However, on this occasion, I decided to do a loop of sorts.  I think I was heading into town to collect something.  I passed through the park at Grange, and could see the remnants of stonework and brickwork.  On this visit, it was almost dark, so I couldn't properly make out what was there.  I subsequently went back in the daylight last year to have a proper look around. 

The Remains of Ribbleton Hall in Grange Park, Preston

The Remains of Ribbleton Hall are at the site of a Medieval Manor House first documented in 1201. The later Ribbleton Hall was built in 1865 for Thomas Birchall, a local solicitor and Mayor of Preston. After the death of Thomas Birchall the house was used for a variety of functions including a boys preparatory school during the 1920s and a base for the ATS and US troops during World War II. By 1955 the house had been demolished and a public park was laid out under the supervision of Jack Billington, the park foreman. During the 1980s the park fell into a decline. A restoration of the park in 1999 included the excavation of the house foundations which recorded the original layout of the Hall, conservatory and adjacent kitchen garden.

The Remains of Ribbleton Hall in Grange Park, Preston

The Remains of Ribbleton Hall in Grange Park, Preston

The Remains of Ribbleton Hall in Grange Park, Preston

The Remains of Ribbleton Hall in Grange Park, Preston

"The story of the manor of Ribbleton is obscure. Before the Conquest it seems to have been part of the great lordship of Preston held by Earl Tostig, and is not separately named in Domesday Book. In later times its assessment was one ploughland, and it was hidden in thegnage by a rent of 8s. Henry De Ribbleton died possessed of it in or before 1201, leaving a son who was a leper and a daughter. Henry son of Alan De Holland of Downholland* purchased the wardship and marriage of the daughter and by 1212 Ribbleton had become incorporated with the Holland manors and had been granted out to Roger de Leicester.... In 1346 William de Elston and Roger his brother were said to hold four ploughlands in Ribbleton, Preston and Elston of Henry Earl of Lancaster.

By a partition in 1559 Ribbleton Hall became the property of Robert Shuttleworth and Jane his wife [Jane being one of six sisters of Richard Browne, who died without issue]...John Shireburne...married one of the [sisters] and seems to have acquired the shares of two others. His grandson of the same name recorded a pedigree in 1613 and being a recusant and Royalist his estates were sequestered under the rule of the Parliament...The Shireburne estate is said to have been sold to Richard King in 1656, his descendants sold to Thomas Birchall whose son, also Thomas built the present Ribbleton Hall not far from the old house. The estate is reported to be owned at present by Mr R.R. Ruthwell of Sharples by bequest of the late Mrs Birchall..."

Ribbleton Hall - The Seat of Thomas Birchall

The site of Ribbleton Hall Farm is occupied by a modern Secondary school and its surrounds. The surrounding area has been fully developed, and is covered by a modern housing estate. Not a trace of the farm remains.  As Ribbleton Hall Farm was built near to the old house, the exact position of the original Hall cannot now be ascertained.

* Downholland is a civil parish in Lancashire, England, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The population at the 2011 census was 913.

Interesting to note that there is a 'Curling Pond' to the northwest of the Hall on the circa 1910 map. There is a post about that, which I wrote after first noticing the 'pond'. 

Curling in Preston is a thing - Preston Curling Club History, read more... 

I had always assumed that the Old Hall had been incorporated into the farm. However, the Heritage Gateway text suggest that it wasn't the same building and was built nearby. If you compare the 1840s Ordnance Survey Map with the early 1900s Ordnance Survey Map, you can see that whilst some of the buildings have been incorporated into the farm. The Old Hall itself has indeed gone.

Six Inch First Edition Ordnance Survey Map from 1848

Six Inch First Edition Ordnance Survey Map from 1912

Six Inch First Edition Ordnance Survey Map from 1912 in more detail

Maps courtesy of the National Library of Scotland.

Side by Side old Ordnance Survey Maps:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.0&lat=53.77615&lon=-2.65053&layers=257&right=6

The majority of the information about Ribbleton Hall comes from the Historic England Research Records on Ribbleton Hall:

https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=42708&resourceID=19191

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Ribbleton New Hall

The second Ribbleton Hall ('Ribbleton New Hall') was built in 1865 for Thomas Birchall (1833-1878), a local solicitor and Mayor of Preston (1847–48).  It was built on land that was previously purchased by his father.  Birchall was a partner in a firm of solicitors based in the prestigious Winckley Square.  He lived at the hall until his death in 1878.  In the following years, Ribbleton Hall was used for various purposes.  It was a boys' preparatory school in the 1920s and a base for the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), along with U.S. troops, during World War II.  The building was eventually demolished in 1949 to make way for Grange Park. 

The second Ribbleton Hall was built in 1865 for Thomas Birchall

Birchall was known for his passion for art collecting. He owned a painting entitled 'Puck', an oil painting on canvas, which was painted by Richard Dadd, the infamous Victorian artist best know for his ‘fairy paintings’.  Puck is a character from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  The painting must have been sold privately after his death, but after many years it returned to Preston and is now part of the Harris’ permanent collection. 

The second Ribbleton Hall was built in 1865 for Thomas Birchall

Birchall also had an interest in maritime activities.  He owned a yacht named 'The Vision,' which, in 1848, became the first yacht ever to sail into Preston, docking at Victoria Quay in Ashton.  This event was notable enough to be reported in the Preston Chronicle at the time. 

Ribbleton New Hall was built in 1865 for Thomas Birchall

His contributions to the city are commemorated in the naming of Birchall Street, located off Ribbleton Lane in Preston. 

The history of Thomas Birchall and the building of Ribbleton New Hall is not a particularly 'rosy' story.  The Preston History website describes the possibility of it being financed by dodgy dealings.

Read On this day … 8 July 1848 on the Preston History website 

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RIBBLETON Manor

The story of the manor of RIBBLETON is obscure. Before the Conquest it seems to have been part of the great lordship of Preston held by Earl Tostig, and is not separately named in Domesday Book. In later times its assessment was one plough-land, and it was held in thegnage, by a rent of 8s. Henry de Ribbleton died possessed of it in or before 1201, leaving a son, who was a leper, and a daughter. Henry son of Alan de Holland of Downholland purchased the wardship and marriage of the daughter, and by 1212 Ribbleton had become incorporated with the Holland manors and had been granted out to Roger de Leicester for an annual service of 8s. and four arrows. Roger in turn in 1202 gave it to Henry de Fishwick and Maud his wife, a rent of 10s. being payable, but the agreement was varied in 1224. The mesne lordship of the Hollands was not long recognized.

In 1324 Roger de Elston held the vill by the rent of 8s. and doing suit to the county and wapentake. Again in 1346 William de Elston and Roger his brother were said to hold four plough-lands in Ribbleton, Preston and Elston of Henry Earl of Lancaster by knight's service and 18d. for castle ward; but in the same year Thomas Travers and William Lawrence held between them one plough-land in Ribbleton in socage, rendering 8s. a year at the four terms. The latter record is confirmed by later testimonies, but nothing is known as to the source of their right.

The estate was not usually called a manor. The Travers moiety descended like Nateby until 1579, when it was sold to John Shireburne. The other moiety was in 1524 held by Robert Lawrence, who died on 27 March holding his part of Ribbleton of the king in socage by the rent of 4s. His heirs were two daughters, Margaret and Agnes, aged seventeen and fourteen respectively. The elder daughter married Hugh Farington of Hutton, and their descendants were seated in Ribbleton for some time, recording pedigrees at the visitations of 1567, 1613 and 1665. The younger daughter's share seems to have gone to Evan Browne, who died in 1545 holding a capital messuage called Ribbleton and messuages, lands and windmill there in socage, by a free rent of 2s. His son and heir Richard dying without issue, the six sisters made a partition in 1559 by which Ribbleton Hall became the property of Robert Shuttleworth and Jane his wife. The Farington estate is said to have been sold to the Heskeths of Rufford about the end of the 17th century.

The Farington Argent is a cheveron gules between three leopards' faces sable.

John Shireburne, already named, married one of the daughters and seems to have acquired the shares of two others. His grandson of the same name recorded a pedigree in 1613, and being a recusant and Royalist his estates were sequestered under the rule of the Parliament. His son Henry seems to have removed to Lincolnshire. The Shireburne estate is said to have been sold to Richard King in 1656; his descendants sold to Thomas Birchall, whose son, also Thomas, built the present Ribbleton Hall not far from the old house. The estate is reported to be owned at present by Mr. R. R. Rothwell of Sharples, by bequest of the late Mrs. Birchall.

The freeholders recorded in 1600 were Hugh Farington, John Shireburne and Richard Whalley. The 'manor' appears no more in the records.

The Elston family, at one time described as holding the vill, continued to be considerable landowners there, and in 1454 their estate was described as a manor.

A Ribbleton family appears at times, and the Haydocks once held a large part; names of other landowners are recorded. In the 18th century a family named Brewer had Ribbleton Lodge, the domestic chapel there serving the Roman Catholics of the district. Several 'Papists' registered estates in 1717.

The Knights Hospitallers had some land in Ribbleton, afterwards owned by the Shireburnes of Stonyhurst.

A dispute in 1564 as to the lordship and moor of Ribbleton gives the bounds on the Fulwood side as follows: From Jackson Hey and Clough north-east to the mere hills, five in all, on the south-west side of a close called the Park Falls in Fulwood. The moor was inclosed in 1870.

In connexion with the Church of England St. Mary Magdalene was consecrated in 1889; a district had been formed for it in 1883, and services began about that time. The patronage is in the hands of trustees.

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New Hall Lane

I had also (...I think wrongly...) assumed that the origins of the road name "New Hall Lane" came from a reference to the "New Hall" at Ribbleton when I looked at the ruins last year. However, somebody was trying to convince me that it was related to Samlesbury Hall. There were various halls at Samlesbury too, amongst other nearby locations, but the dates for Samlesbury seem to be too far back in history for a road to be named 'New' in reverence to it. I understand that the Great Hall in Samlesbury was built in 1325.

Later I had a, "I think I used to know that and it is 'sort of' coming back to me", moment. Perhaps younger people might not be able to relate to this.

I believe that the 'New Hall' of 'New Hall Lane' is actually derived from the 'Samlesbury New Hall'. Over time, there have a number of Halls in Samlesbury. These are:

Samlesbury Hall - the Great Hall - famous one by the A59

Samlesbury Lower Hall - now only a ruin

Samlesbury New Hall - also know as Southworth New Hall

Samlesbury New Hall (Southworth New Hall) is the one that's near the brewery and, of course, the New Hall Tavern.

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Standing Stones

Finally, there are also some Standing Stones nearby. I believe them to be a recent creation (or addition) - a sculpture of sorts.

I am almost certain that they are not Megalithic.  At the time of visiting in April 2024, I could find out very little information about them.

Standing Stones in Grange Park, Preston

After posting about the ruins and these stones on social media, I received a comment about them saying that they where put up in about 2005 to replace a rope climbing frame that was burned by vandals.

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The Location of the Remains of Ribbleton Hall

The ruins are now inside what is know as Grange Park in Ribbleton.

Grid Reference: SD 57345 31421

Grid Reference (6 figure): SD573314

X (Easting) , Y (Northing): 357345 , 431421

Latitude , Longitude (decimal): 53.777361 , -2.6487511

Latitude , Longitude (degs, mins, secs): 53°46′38″N , 002°38′56″W

What3Words: later.expose.rats

Address (near): Thornley Place, Moor Nook, Ribbleton, Preston, Lancashire, England, PR2 6HA

Postcode (nearest): PR2 6HA

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Further reading and sources of information

Historic England Research Records
Ribbleton Hall & Ribbleton Hall Farm

https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=42708&resourceID=19191

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Ribbleton Hall in the Red Rose Collections
by Lancashire County Council

https://redrosecollections.lancashire.gov.uk/quick-search?q=Ribbleton+Hall&WINID=1739273735220

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Grange Park history by Visit Preston

https://visitpreston.co.uk/article/2730/Grange-Park-history

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New Southworth Hall, Cuerdale Lane, Samlesbury
Listed on the National Heritage List for England

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1361874

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'Townships: Ribbleton', in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 7, ed. William Farrer, J Brownbill (London, 1912), British History Online

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol7/pp105-108

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