Editing Ordsall Hall (section)

===Radclyffe family home===
[[File:Radcliffe arms.svg|thumb|Arms of Radcliffe: ''Argent, a bend engrailed sable'']]
During the 1340s, Sir John Radclyffe campaigned with [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] in France, distinguishing himself at the battles of [[Battle of Caen (1346)|Caen]], [[Battle of Crécy|Crécy]] and [[Battle of Calais|Calais]]. As a reward for his service, the King allowed Sir John to take some [[Flemish people|Flemish]] weavers back to his Ordsall estate, where he built cottages for them to live in. English weaving skills at that time were poor, and textiles from [[Manchester]] were considered to be of particularly poor quality, so the Flemish weavers were employed in instructing the local weavers. They also started up a silk weaving industry, the foundation for Manchester's later cotton industry.{{sfn|Cooper|2003|pp=101–102|ps=none}}
[[File:Radclyffe coat of arms.jpg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the Radclyffe family, awarded to Sir John Radclyffe in the 1340s]]
The Dutch humanist and theologian [[Erasmus]] stayed at Ordsall Hall in 1499, and described it thus:
{{blockquote|... the floors are made of clay and are covered with layers of rushes, constantly replenished, so that the bottom layer remains for 20&nbsp;years harbouring spittle, vomit, the urine of dogs and men, the dregs of beer, the remains of fish and other nameless filth&nbsp;...{{sfnp|Cooper|2005|p=90|ps=none}}}}
The original [[cruck]] hall was replaced by the present Great Hall in 1512, after Sir Alexander Radclyffe was appointed [[High Sheriff of Lancashire]]. The hall is typical of others built at that time in the northwest of England, although it is one of the largest, and is unusual for the period in having no wall fireplace. The hall has an elaborate roof structure, as in the similar [[Rufford Old Hall]]. There is a slightly later small room above the large [[Oriel window|oriel]] bay, which may be an early addition as at [[Samlesbury Hall]].{{r|SalfordHistoryHall}}

Other alterations and additions were made during the 17th century, including a modest brick house added onto the west end in 1639, perhaps intended as a home for Sir Alexander's bailiff, as he himself no longer used the hall as his main residence by that time. The house was built at 90° to the timber-framed building, to which it was later joined. During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]] Sir Alexander, as a [[Cavalier|Royalist]], was imprisoned and suffered financial hardship. Reduced means eventually forced his heir, John Radclyffe, into selling the hall to Colonel Samuel Birch in 1662, thus ending more than 300 years of his family's occupation.{{r|SalfordHistoryHall}}<ref>[https://archive.org/details/lancashirenonco05nighuoft/page/146 p. 147]</ref>