Cuerden Hall - The Seat of Robert Townley Parker, Esquire M.P.
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| Cuerden Hall | Stately Home - The Seat of Robert Townley Parker, Esquire M.P. |
I recently had a wander around Cuerden Valley Park, as its known these days. I was looking at the lake, which was previously a reservoir that served Cuerden Hall. That might be a future post. However, I also had a wander around the perimeter of what is now the grounds of Cuerden Hall. This area is very much diminished in size from the original boundaries of the estate, which has been carved up by the M6 & M65 Motorways over the years.
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| First Edition Ordnance Survey Map, 1848, showing 'Cuerden Hall Demesne' |
Cuerden Hall has being undergoing renovation work since 2021. I last visited in 2013, when it was the Sue Ryder Care Home. I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't take any photos. I helped a local charity with a dog show that was run in the grounds in 2013 and, whilst I did catch the building in the background of various photographs inadvertently, I missed out on the opportunity to point the camera directly at the building.
The building is now in the hands of a private owner again, and a lot of time and money appears to be going into the restoration process. The work is being documented on a dedicated website. It is a fantastic resource and the amount of information that is freely available on the website is amazing. I haven't seen anything like it before.
Cuerden Hall | Stately Home | England
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Cuerden Hall History
The original house on this site, dating back to the 17th century, no longer stands. However, evidence of its ground floor remains within the basements of the current building.
The Charnock family of Charnock Richard owned the estate until 1521 when Richard Charnock of Cuerden and Leyland sold the manor to Thomas Langton, Lord Newton.
In 1605, Henry Banastre of Bank Hall purchased the Cuerden Hall Estate from the Langton family. His daughter, Alice, who married Sir Thomas Haggerston Bt, held ownership in 1641.
The present hall was built in 1717 by Banastre Parker, son of Robert Parker, High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1710, who relocated the Parker family from Extwistle Hall. Following Banastre’s death in 1738, the estate passed to his son Robert Parker (1727–1779), then to his grandchildren Banastre Parker (1758–1788) and Thomas Towneley Parker (1760–1794).
Between 1816 and 1819, Robert Townley Parker (1793–1879) inherited the estate from his father and remodelled the hall, commissioning architect Lewis Wyatt to oversee the work. This included a substantial extension to the east wing.
After the deaths of Capt. Robert Townley Parker (1823–1894) and his brother Thomas Townley Parker (1822–1906), the estate passed to their nephew, Reginald Arthur Tatton (1857–1926). He redesigned the gardens, introducing a pergola, gazebo, walled garden, and pond.
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| Cuerden Hall. Sepia postcard RP-PPC from Preston Digital Archive |
During the First World War, Tatton adapted the hall into an infirmary for wounded troops. Between 1 May 1915 and 8 June 1917, it operated as Cuerden Hall Auxiliary Hospital. The drawing rooms, still adorned with the Tatton family's collection of old masters and portraits, were converted into wards furnished with beds and medical equipment. Meanwhile, the parkland provided a space for convalescing soldiers, who engaged in activities such as boating on the lake, haymaking, and picnicking.
During the Second World War, the estate was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and transformed into an Army Education Centre. It later became the British Army Divisional Headquarters for Anti-Aircraft Command.
In 1958, after nearly 250 years of family ownership, the Tatton family sold the hall to the Ministry of Defence. By 1967, it had become the Army’s Headquarters for the North West District.
In 1977, the Central Lancashire Development Corporation acquired the hall, repurposing it as its headquarters and constructing additional offices and car parks within the grounds.
By 1978, the surrounding parkland had been developed into what is now Cuerden Valley Park.
In 1985, the hall was converted into a Sue Ryder Care Home for patients with neurological conditions. In 2020, it was sold to its current owner.
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| Design for alterations and additions to Cuerden Hall, Lancashire |
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| E. Twycross, north elevation of Cuerden Hall, from 1847 |
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ROBERT TOWNLEY PARKER, ESQ,
THE GUILD MAYOR OF PRESTON.
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| Robert Townley Parker, Esquire - Guild Mayor of Preston in 1862 |
Through his father, Mr. Parker represents the families of Parker, of Extwistle; Clayton, of Fulwood; Banastre, of Bank; and Townley, of Royle. Through his mother, he represents the Brookser, of Astley; the Charnocs (or Chernoes), of Charnock and Astley; the Booths, of Barton; and the Molyneuxes, of Softon and Crosby. The Chernoes were settled at Charnock, near Chorley, so far back as the twelfth century, and their estates are now in the possession of their descendant and representative, Mr. Parker. The heiress of the Charnocks (or Chernoo), towards the close of the seventeenth century, married Richard Brooke, second son of Sir Peter Brooke, of Mere, in Cheshire, Their grandson, Peter Brooke, left an only surviving child, the mother of the present Mr. Townley Parker, at whose death the Astley and Charnock estates became his property. Mr. Parker's ancestors, the Parkers and the Townleys, were for a long period freemen of Preston. The first of the family was Nicholas Townley, of Royle, whose name appears on the Guild rolls in 1662, and his descendants continued to renew their freedom for several Guilds. The first of the name of Parker, of Extwistle, on the Guild rolls, was Robert Parker, who, in 1702, took up his freedom, and at the same time three of his sons, Banastre, Robert, and Nicholas, did the same. At every succeeding Guild, except the last two, members of the family appear on the rolls. The last is in 1802, when there is an entry of the present Squire of Cuerden, then the only remaining male representative of the race, who is entered as "Parker, Robert Townley, of Cuerden Hall, Esquire, infant son of Thomas Townley, deceased." Mr. Robert Townley Parker served the office of High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1817. He was returned as one of the members for Preston in 1837 and 1852. He is, with one exception, the oldest magistrate in the county, having qualified on the 14th of January, 1819 The accompanying Portrait of Mr. Parker is from a photograph by Samuel Oglesby, of Fishergate, Preston.
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| Bust of Robert Townley Parker (1793–1879), MP for Preston (1837–1857) |
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| Cuerden Hall. The Seat of R. Townley Parker, Esq. M.P. |
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Serving Dish from the Cuerden Hall Townley-Parker Dinner Service
My voyage around the Internet looking for thing related to Cuerden Hall and Robert Townley Parker, turned up this item from the Cuerden Hall Townley-Parker Dinner Service. It is described as an important George III Serving Dish & Cover made in London in 1816 by Paul Storr.
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| Serving Dish from the Cuerden Hall Townley-Parker Dinner Service |
Elements of the Parker 'Coat of Arms' can be seen in the design. This Escutcheon (in heraldry, an escutcheon is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms) shows the Parker design, which is.Gules a cheveron between three leopards' faces or, in the mouth of each an arrow fesseways argent.
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| Elements of the Parker 'Coat of Arms' can be seen in the design |
ARMORIAL
The Arms are those of Parker quartering Townley and impaling Brooke for Robert Townley-Parker (1793-1879) of Cuerden Hall Preston, who married Harriet, daughter of Thomas Brooke of Church Minshall, Cheshire in 1816.
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| Serving Dish from the Cuerden Hall Townley-Parker Dinner Service |
PROVENANCE
Supplied to Robert Townley-Parker (1793-1879) and Harriet Brooke of Cuerden Hall in 1816 on the occasion of their marriage and by descent to their eldest son.
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| Serving Dish from the Cuerden Hall Townley-Parker Dinner Service |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Robert Townley-Parker served as M.P. for Preston, Lancashire, 1837-1857, and was High Sheriff of the County in 1817. In 1816, he married Harriet, youngest daughter of Thomas Brooke of Minshall Cheshire. Upon his death in 1879, the illustrated London News described Townley-Parker as “One of the chief proprietors among the landed gentry in the county of Lancaster”. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas. On his death in 1906 the manors, land and chattels passed to his nephew Mr Reginald Arthur Tatton of Chelford, in Cheshire.
Cuerden Hall, Lancashire, descended from the Cuerdens and Banasters to the Townley-Parker family, and was re-modelled by Robert Townley-Parker in 1816-19. Together with its landscaped park, Cuerden Hall was a significant contribution to the nineteenth-century Picturesque movement (J.M. Robinson, A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West, 1991, PP. 176-177).
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Further reading and sources of information
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CUERDEN HALL | Website created to educate about the history of the Hall and all the details about its full restoration and conservation
https://www.cuerdenhall.com/history
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History of the Borough of Preston and its environs : in the county of Lancaster by Charles Hardwick
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=dul1.ark:/13960/t3d00mm39&seq=1
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Cuerden Hall, Shady Lane, listed on the National Heritage List for England
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1362174
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A new portrait of Robert Townley Parker
Preston History ~ Peter Smith
https://prestonhistory.com/2022/05/09/a-new-portrait-of-robert-townley-parker/
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Preston Orange Order MP’s Catholic sympathies
Preston History ~ Peter Smith
https://prestonhistory.com/2022/04/04/preston-orange-order-mps-catholic-sympathies/
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The Townley-Parker Legacy - Simon Dalley
https://simondalley.co.uk/the-townley-parker-legacy
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Bust of Robert Townley Parker
Lancashire County Council Red Rose Collections
https://redrosecollections.lancashire.gov.uk/view-item?i=240035
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Bust of Robert Townley Parker (1793–1879), MP for Preston (1837–1857) by Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834–1890) - Astley Hall Museum and Art Gallery - ArtUK
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Robert Townley Parker. Preston Guild Mayor 1862
Extract from the Illustrated London News. September 13, 1862
Preston Digital Archive
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/5774139345
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Cuerden Hall, Preston. The Seat of R. Townley Parker, Esq. M.P.
Image taken from the History of the Borough of Preston and Its Environs in the County of Lancaster, By Charles Hardwick 1857 - Preston Digital Archive
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/9088725773/
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Cuerden Hall. Sepia postcard RP-PPC
Preston Digital Archive
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpsmithbarney/26025897040/
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CUERDEN HALL - CONSERVATION MANGEMENT PLAN
ISSUE 01 - APRIL 2021 | Rebecca Burrows On behalf of Purcell
https://docs.planning.org.uk/20210610/181/QSC4LFETKW900/gjci3ben06w5qtlh.pdf
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First Edition Ordnance Survey Map from 1848 showing the 'Cuerden Hall Demesne'
National Library of Scotland
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The story of the rebirth of Grade II listed Cuerden Hall
Lancashire Life - 6th November 2024
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From the Cuerden Hall Townley-Parker Dinner Service.
An important George III Serving Dish & Cover made in London in 1816 by Paul Storr.
Mary Cooke Antiques
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Townships: Cuerden | A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6.
Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1911.
BHO | British History Online
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol6/pp23-29
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