Barlow Hall, a court case and the promise of a park for Chorlton and Didsbury on the banks of the Mersey

It was one of those stories that you uncover by accident and will require lots more research but that won’t stop me beginning the tale.

Now I had been crawling over the Manchester Guardian looking for references to the opening months of the Great War and amongst other things there was a series of articles about the Corporation’s intention to buy the Barlow Hall estate and turn it into a park.

Lord Egerton had signalled his wish in the April of 1914 to sell the land for £50,000, which the Manchester Guardian reported “works out at more than a £150 an acre [and which] at present brings in an income of about £900 a year.  

The Parks Committee, in addition to inspecting the property, have had it valued at £30,800, or about £95 an acre.  

Their advisor in arriving at this figure took into consideration the fact that nearly 300 acres of the land is low lying, which raises difficulties in the matter of drainage and limits its usefulness, except of course, for such purposes as farming, recreation, and sewage treatment.”*

Added to which the Egerton estate reserved “the rights of drainage for the adjoin high land at present draining into the lower levels; provision for a quarter of the cost of maintain the river banks and certain restrictions affecting the use of the land for building, advertising and sewage purposes.  On the other hand, 

Lord Egerton would provide an entrance road, 80ft wide from Barlow Moor Road to Barlow Hall; a right of way, 50ft wide from Hardy Lane, Chorlton and an entrance to the land from Darley Avenue, in West Didsbury.”

Now there was opposition with letters to the Manchester Guardian, but at a small meeting of the Chorlton-cum-Hardy Ratepayers Association a decision approved the purchase but the members present were concerned about the impact on the Golf Club whose links was owned by the Egerton estate and would be part of the purchase.

Despite the cost the Parks Committee decided to recommend the purchase to the Council in the September with Alderman Harrop arguing that this was a good deal particularly as it meant the acquisition of Barlow Hall for £25,000.

And that is as far as I have got although thee are also some fascinating glimpses into the life of the Hall when it was still the residence of Cunliffe Brooks which came from a high profile court case in 1900-01 which centred around the attempt of his widow and daughter to prove that his main domicile was Scotland, but that is for another time.

Pictures; Bluebell Wood, Barlow Ley, circa 1900, and west front of Barlow Hall, circa 1900 from the Lloyd Collection

*The Proposed South Manchester Park, Manchester Guardian, April 30, 1914

On visiting Barlow Hall in 1887

“In rambling through Barlow Hall only a short time ago, we found a succession of tiny silent bedrooms, each opening into its neighbour, and each into a long narrow, rickety corridor.  

From the corridor we could see, through square bits of coloured glass, traces of a quaint timbered court yard and learnt that this was the oldest part of the house, and these bedrooms were probably used by the daughters of Alexander Barlow.”

For me this remains a pretty exciting if short tour of our oldest building.  Mrs Williamson had wandered through the hall sometime in 1887 by which time it had been the residences of William Cunliffe Brooks for over thirty years.

The hall had been the home of the Barlow family since the Middle Ages and there may have been a building on the site dating from that period, but the present half-timbered structure dates probably from the reign of Henry VIII. Little of the original structure was visible by 1848 when the Brooks family moved in.

Most of the timber work had been covered in plaster or hidden under ivy. The old great hall, which occupied most of the building and was open to the roof, had been divided to create two storeys, with the lower floor given over to three entertaining rooms.

But according to various observers William Cunliffe Brooks was keen not only to preserve the building but also to share his love of the hall.

This interest never appeared to have left him, and led Mrs C. Williamson to write in her Recollections of Fallowfield that his ‘love for old things is so great that every relic is sacred to him, and even mindful alterations are made in such close imitation of old, they look the real thing’.

It was a passion that  lead him to display a piece of the original timber which had been exposed after a fire in 1879, and our own Chorlton historian may well have been speaking from first-hand experience when he advised that ‘Mrs Brooks’s morning room is worthy of a visit, with its quaint old china, and the vestibule containing some fine old Furniture and an engraving of Wellington with his autograph’

Pictures; the coutyard in 1910 and the sitting room window which looks out onto the courtyard 1890-95 by S.H.Jones, from the Lloyd collection

Barlow Hall and its occupants, ............ an ancient Chorlton family, the radical on trial for conspiracy and the banker

Barlow Hall is old and while there may have been a building on the site dating from the Middle Ages, the present half timbered structure dates probably from the reign of Henry VIII. Little of the original structure was visible by the 1840s.

Most of the timber work had been covered in plaster or hidden under ivy.

The old great hall which occupied most of the building and open to the roof had been divided off to create two stories, with the lower floor given over to three entertaining rooms.

The Barlow’s had settled here by the fourteenth century, appear to have lived a quiet existence until like many they were caught up in the conflicts over religion in the sixteenth century.

They had adhered to the old faith and been persecuted during the reign of the first Elizabeth.

The family continued to live at the Hall until the last died in 1773 and the estate was sold to the Egerton’s twelve years later.

During the later part of the eighteenth century and into the next it had been home of the radical Thomas Walker, and later to the leading Whig businessman Shakepeare Phillips and in June 1848 to William Cunliffe Brooks.

According to various observers Cunliffe Brooks was keen not only to preserve the building but to share his love of the hall.

This interest never appeared to have left him and led Mrs C Williamson to write in her Recollections of Fallowfield, that his “love for old things is so great that every relic is sacred to him, and even mindful alterations are made in such close imitation of old, they look the real thing.”

This was a passion which was to lead him to display a piece of the original timber which had been exposed after a fire in 1879,and own Chorlton historian may well have been speaking from firsthand experience when he advised that “Mrs Brook’s morning room is worthy of a visit, with its quaint old china, and the vestibule containing some fine old Furniture and an engraving of Wellington with his autograph.”

And the Hall is still there today, home to a golf course.

Picture; Barlow Hall from the collection of Rita Bishop, the Lloyd collection in the 19th century  and Andrew Robertson, 2014

Calling in at Barlow Hall trying to recreate that visit in 1887

Now I have been fascinated by Barlow Hall for a long time but I have to confess I have never been there so when Andy Robertson sent me some pictures of the place I decided it was time to rerun an old story.

Andy visited the hall earlier in the month and that prompted me to repost a story of Mrs William’s tour of the property back in 1887.

“In rambling through Barlow Hall only a short time ago, we found a succession of tiny silent bedrooms, each opening into its neighbour, and each into a long narrow, rickety corridor. 

From the corridor we could see, through square bits of coloured glass, traces of a quaint timbered court yard and learnt that this was the oldest part of the house, and these bedrooms were probably used by the daughters of Alexander Barlow.”

For me this remains a pretty exciting if short tour of our oldest building.  Mrs Williamson had wandered through the hall sometime in 1887 by which time it had been the residences of William Cunliffe Brooks for over thirty years.

The hall had been the home of the Barlow family since the Middle Ages and there may have been a building on the site dating from that period, but the present half-timbered structure dates probably from the reign of Henry VIII. Little of the original structure was visible by 1848 when the Brooks family moved in.

Most of the timber work had been covered in plaster or hidden under ivy. The old great hall, which occupied most of the building and was open to the roof, had been divided to create two storeys, with the lower floor given over to three entertaining rooms.

 But according to various observers William Cunliffe Brooks was keen not only to preserve the building but also to share his love of the hall.

This interest never appeared to have left him, and led Mrs C. Williamson to write in her Recollections of Fallowfield that his ‘love for old things is so great that every relic is sacred to him, and even mindful alterations are made in such close imitation of old, they look the real thing’.

It was a passion that led him to display a piece of the original timber which had been exposed after a fire in 1879, and our own Chorlton historian may well have been speaking from first-hand experience when he advised that ‘Mrs Brooks’s morning room is worthy of a visit, with its quaint old china, and the vestibule containing some fine old Furniture and an engraving of Wellington with his autograph’

Pictures; the coutyard in 1910 and the sitting room window which looks out onto the courtyard 1890-95 by S.H. Jones, from the Lloyd collection, and the Hall in August 2014 courtesy of Andy Robertson