Tatton Hall ....... once the preserve of the rich and now a place to mix a bit of history with a load of fun

Now I am going to lay aside my prejudice for stately homes.

It is something which I have carried it with me since childhood and is based on that simple observation that all such posh places were funded by exploiting the labours of those who were doomed never to get closer than the estate gates and maintained by an army of servants and labourers whose contributions to the great house went largely unrecorded.

Nor do I totally accept that tosh about preserving the past.

So while some might argue that there is no comparison between Blenheim Palace and a 1930 semi built on the outer reaches of Manchester. I am not so sure.

But both have histories, both were built for someone to live in and both were cherished by their inhabitants.

In the case of Tatton Hall it is now open to all and run by the National Trust after the last owner, Maurice Egerton bequeathed the mansion and gardens to the National Trust on his death in 1958.

And for all those who live in south Manchester, the Egertons at one time pretty much owned all of it having begun to acquire great chunks from the 18th century onwards and only parting with the land in the late 19th and early 20 centuries.

All of which may seem a long way from a pleasant day in Tatton Park which if you choose the day correctly will offer up a shed load of attractions, from steam engines to the fun of the fair.

These Peter has captured well in his series of paintings on Tatton Hall.

My favourite remains that traction engine which reminds me of the time when steam was the thing powering everything from pumps and textile machines to trains and even to carousel rides.

Today it is hard to imagine that once that distinctive smell of steam and warm oil along with the noise and smoke of a steam machine was the backdrop to most people’s lives.

All of which makes Tatton Hall’s visitor attractions worth a visit, not that it over changes my views of stately homes, but I shall put that prejudice to one side.

Paintings; from the Tatton Hall series,  © 2011 and 2015 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

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Tatton Hall and the staircase from Chorlton

Now Tatton Hall is an impressive pile by any estate agents sales pitch.

It was begun in the 1770s was steadily added to by members of the Egerton family, boasts a large Corinthian portico, monolithic columns of varying classical designs and is big.

But I have reservations.

Part of that comes from that prejudice I have carried with me since childhood about big posh places funded by exploiting the labours of those who were doomed never to get closer than the estate gates and maintained by an army of servants and labourers whose contributions to the great house went largely unrecorded.

Added to which it has something of ours.

Tucked away in the great house is that fine staircase from Hough End Hall which the Egertons decided should grace their home in Cheshire.

Of course given the slow decline of Hough End Hall during the middle of the last century followed by the wholesale destruction of almost all the interior during various renovation projects it may have found a safer and better home.

Like many I have at times muttered that “we wos robbed” and that is the prevailing view of many I talk to but I wonder what its fate would have been if left in Chorlton.

One visitor to Hough End Hall in 1862 reported that the “widely and interesting staircase .... [with] boldly carved oaken balustrade, was [now] white as purity itself from a recent infliction of whitewash.”*

I doubt that it would have survived long in the last century a victim of either the random visits of young children who saw the hall as a secret playground or the more sinister opportunist thief out to offer it to the highest bidder.

Instead along with “some of the choicest wainscoting [which was also] removed to adorn a Cheshire house belonging to the Egertons”* it can still be seen and admired.

And that brings me to Peter’s painting of the Hall which he painted recently after a visit to find and record that staircase.

I can report he found the staircase and I am hoping he will offer up a painting as it looks today which in turn may well make its way into our book on Hough End Hall which will soon be out on the book shelves.

Today Tatton Hall is no longer the home of the privileged.

It is part museum, part theme park all set in stunning landscape and is enjoyed by visitors who could never have hoped even to have walked through the lodge gates a century ago.

Painting; Tatton Hall, © 2015 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
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*A Visit to Hough End Hall in Withington, Ashton Reporter, December 6 1862, quoted by Cliff Renshaw in Hough End Hall, 400 Years of History, 2001

**Hough End Hall .......... the book.......... coming soon
 http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/hough-end-hall-book-coming-soon.html