Editing Wythenshawe Hall

{{Short description|Listed building in Manchester, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox historic site
|image= Wyhtenshawe Hall in 2005.jpg
|caption=Wythenshawe Hall in 2005
|name=Wythenshawe Hall
|location=[[Wythenshawe]], [[Manchester]]
|coordinates = {{coord|53|24|17.4|N|2|16|40|W|display=inline,title}}
|architect =
|built= 1540
|designation1          = Grade II*
|designation1_offname  = Wythenshawe Hall
|designation1_date     = 25 February 1952
|designation1_number   = {{NHLE|num=1255034|short=y|postscript=none}}
}}
[[File:WH Plaque.jpg|thumb|right|Plaque commemorating the gift to the city]]
'''Wythenshawe Hall''' is a 16th-century [[Timber framing|timber-framed]] [[historic house]] and former [[manor house]] in [[Wythenshawe]], [[Manchester]], England, {{convert|5|miles}} south of the [[Manchester city centre|city centre]] in [[Wythenshawe Park]]. Built for [[Robert Tatton]], it was home to the Tatton family for almost 400 years. Its basic plan is a central hall with two projecting wings.

In the winter of 1643–44, the house was besieged by [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] forces during the [[English Civil War]]. Despite the stout defence put up by Robert Tatton and his fellow [[Cavalier|Royalists]], the defenders were overwhelmed by the Roundheads' superior weaponry.

Rebuilding work was carried out at the end of the 18th century, and various additions made in the 19th century, including a walled garden, an [[Ice house (building)|ice house]], glass houses and a tenant's hall.{{efn|Hospitality, traditionally doled out to visitors, freeholders and tenants at country and manor houses in the Middle Ages, became a drain on the family's purse. Rather than abandoning the practice, in some houses from the 18th century the tenants and other visitors on business were still entertained to refreshments but in a tenant's hall in the servant's quarters rather than the great hall or parlour. It was where rents were paid and some houses held celebratory dinners at Christmas or family occasions attended by members of the family.<ref name="Girouard" />}} Wythenshawe Hall and its surrounding parkland were donated to Manchester Corporation in 1926, and in 1930 it was opened to the public as a museum.

The building was badly damaged in an [[arson]] attack in March 2016; the hall finally reopened to visitors in September 2022 after extensive repairs.<ref>{{cite news |last=Maidment |first=Adam |title=Renovated Wythenshawe Hall to reopen for first time since arson attack |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/renovated-wythenshawe-hall-reopen-first-24903533 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=1 September 2022}}</ref>

==History==
A pre-1300 charter mentions an enclosed [[Deer park (England)|deer park]] in Wythenshawe where the Tatton family owned land in 1297.<ref name="EHWP"/> Around 1540, Robert Tatton of [[Chester]]<ref name="BBC_15Mar16" /> built Wythenshawe Hall as the Tatton family residence.<ref name="mc_parkhistory" /> The timber-framed [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] house<ref name="pastscape" /> was the home of the family for almost 400 years.<ref name="BBC_15Mar16" /> and may originally have had a [[moat]].<ref name="EHWP"/>

The hall was besieged during the [[English Civil War]] over the winter of 1643–44 by [[Robert Duckenfield]]'s [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] forces.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greatorex |first1=Jean |last2=Clarke |first2=Sheila Garner |title=Looking Back at Wythenshawe |date=1984 |publisher=Willow Publishing |isbn=978-0-946361-06-9 |page=4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Grindon |first1=Leopold Hartley |title=Country rambles, and Manchester walks and wild flowers |date=1882 |publisher=Palmer and Howe |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gkHAAAAQAAJ&dq=wythenshawe+hall+siege+Robert+Duckenfield&pg=PA80 |access-date=7 September 2021 |language=en}}</ref> It was defended by [[Cavalier|Royalists]] led by [[Robert Tatton]] until the Roundheads brought two cannons to the hall from Manchester, leading to the Royalist surrender on 27 February 1644.<ref name="mc_parkhistory" /> The Parliamentarians subsequently confiscated Wythenshawe Hall, but it was returned to the Tatton family on payment of a fine of just over £700. After recovering the estate, the family expanded it to about {{convert|2500|acre|ha}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wythenshawe Hall |work=Wythenshawe's History and Heritage |url=http://www.wythenshawe.btck.co.uk/HallsFarmsCottages/WythenshaweHall |publisher=Wythenshawe History Group |access-date=1 December 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Damage to Wythenshawe Hall following suspected arson attack.jpg|thumb|Damage to Wythenshawe Hall after the 2016 fire]]
In 1924 [[Robert Henry Grenville Tatton]] inherited the Wythenshawe estate. There was interest from [[Manchester Corporation]], who wanted land to build a [[Garden city movement|garden suburb]],<ref>{{cite news |work=The Manchester Guardian (1901–1959)|date=17 Jan 1921 |title=The Wythenshawe estate}}</ref> ostensibly to rehouse tenants from [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]]. By April 1926 Wythenshawe Hall and {{convert|250|acre|sqkm|0}} of its surrounding estate had been sold to [[Ernest Simon, 1st Baron Simon of Wythenshawe]] and [[Shena Simon, Lady Simon of Wythenshawe]], who donated them to Manchester Corporation "to be used solely for the public good".<ref>{{cite news |title=Splendid gift to Manchester |work=The Manchester Guardian |date=13 April 1926}}</ref> Later that year, the corporation purchased the rest of the estate,<ref>{{cite news |work=The Manchester Guardian |title=The Wythenshawe estate |date=13 October 1926}}</ref><ref name="RileyP22" /> and went on to build one of the largest housing estates in Europe on the land.

Repairs were made to the hall in the 1950s,<ref name="MEN_8Nov16" /> and it was designated as a [[Grade II* listed]] building on 25 February 1952.<ref name="NHLE" /> Its former stable block, to the west of the hall, was Grade II listed in 1974.<ref name="NHLE1255038" />

The roof of the hall and an upper floor were severely damaged by a fire that started at around 3:30 am on 15 March 2016; the clock tower was also damaged.<ref name="BBC_15Mar16" /> On 23 March, Jeremy Taylor of Wythenshawe was charged with arson in connection with the fire.<ref name="MEN_8Nov16" /><ref name="men_23Mar16" /><ref name="bbc_23Mar16" /> In July 2017, after changing his plea and admitting guilt,<ref>{{cite news |last=Butler |first=Katie |title=Arsonist facing jail after admitting torching Wythenshawe Hall |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/arsonist-admits-wythenshawe-hall-arson-13412177 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=31 July 2017 |language=en}}</ref> he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.<ref name=BBCsent>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-40962726 |title=Wythenshawe Hall fire: Man jailed for arson attack |work=BBC News |date=18 August 2017}}</ref> The hall was added to the [[Heritage at Risk Register]] in October 2016.<ref name="MEN_21Oct16" /> A planning application to restore the building was submitted in November 2016, with the intention of keeping as much of the original material as possible;<ref name="MEN_8Nov16" /> the repairs were completed at a cost of £6.7&nbsp;million and the building reopened to the public in September 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last=Maidment |first=Adam |title=Renovated Wythenshawe Hall to reopen for first time since arson attack |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/renovated-wythenshawe-hall-reopen-first-24903533 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=1 September 2022}}</ref>

==Architecture==
[[File:Wythenshawe Hall August 2016 012.jpg|thumb|right|Wythenshawe Hall in August 2016, with protective scaffolding and the tower removed]]
The hall was partially rebuilt between 1795 and 1800 by [[Lewis Wyatt]].<ref name="EHWP"/><ref name="NHLE" /> It was altered around 1840 possibly by [[Edward Blore]].<ref name="EHWP"/> Additions included a walled garden, an ice house, and glass houses.<ref name="mc_parkhistory" /> In the Victorian era the dining room was refurbished and a tenant's hall was added.<ref name="mc_antiroom" />

The timber-framed manor house has a hall with two projecting wings, and a porch and [[dais|dais bays]].<ref name="pastscape" /><ref name="Pevsner" /> The entrance hall (also known as the ante-room) is thought to have previously been a chapel, which was subsequently turned into a [[Billiard table|billiards room]], before becoming an entrance hall in the 1870s.<ref name="mc_antiroom" />

==Museum==
In 1930 the hall was turned into a museum and art gallery.<ref name="pastscape" /> Most of the hall's original furniture was removed by the Tatton family in 1926 when they moved out, and most of the furniture and paintings displayed in the hall during its time as a museum were from the [[Manchester Art Gallery|Manchester City Galleries collection]].<ref name="mc_antiroom" />

Until 2007 a re-enactment of the 1643 siege of Wythenshawe Hall by Cromwell's troops was staged every July.<ref name="MEN_axe" />

By 2004 the hall was only open once a week for four months in the year<ref name = "MEN 8 May 2004" /> and in 2010 closed completely<ref name="pastscape" /> as a result of council spending cuts.<ref name="mc_hall" /> One proposition was that [[Manchester City Council]] could sell the building to the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]].<ref name="men_wythenshaw" /> In summer 2012, the hall re-opened for 10 days for the Wythenshawe Games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wchg.org.uk/wythenshawe-games-2012/|title=Wythenshawe Games 2012 - WCHG|date=28 May 2012|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref> A friends group was established in September 2012 to hold monthly open days and regular events at the hall.<ref name="pastscape" /><ref name="friends" /> Furniture installed by the friends group (including a [[four-poster bed]] engraved with the Tatton [[family crest]]) was not damaged by the fire.<ref name="mcc_22Mar16" />

==Park==
{{main|Wythenshawe Park}}
[[File:Wythenshawe Hall with Cromwell statue.jpg|thumb|The statue of Oliver Cromwell in front of Wythenshawe Hall]]
[[Wythenshawe Park]] occupies {{convert|270|acre|km2}} of land surrounding the hall in [[Northern Moor]]. The park contains a mix of woodland, bedding, borders, grassland and meadows,<ref name="mc_park" /> sports and games facilities, and [[Wythenshawe community farm]] and a [[horticulture]] centre<ref name="mc_facilities" /> North Lodge, the Grade II listed [[Gatehouse|gate lodge]] on the park's northern boundary was built in the Tudor style in the mid to late 19th century.<ref name="NHLELodge"/> 

Facing the hall stands a {{convert|7.16|m|ft|adj=on}}-tall bronze statue of [[Oliver Cromwell]] on a granite plinth and pedestal, sculpted by [[Matthew Noble]] in 1875. Now Grade II listed, it was moved from its original location on [[Deansgate]] to the park in 1968.<ref name="NHLEStatue"/><ref name="Cromwell" /><ref name="MCC_statue" />

==See also==
{{commons category|Wythenshawe Hall}}
{{portal|Greater Manchester}}
*[[Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester]]
*[[Listed buildings in Manchester-M23]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist|notes=}}

'''Citations'''
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="pastscape">{{cite web|title=Wythenshawe Hall - Pastscape|publisher=Historic England|url=http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=76513|access-date=18 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318133609/http://pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=76513|archive-date=18 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="Pevsner">{{cite book |first=Nikolaus |last=Pevsner |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=1969 |title=Lancashire. 1. The industrial and commercial south. The Buildings of England |page=343}}</ref>
<ref name="Girouard">{{cite book |last=Girouard |first=Mark |title=Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeinenglishcou0000giro |url-access=registration |year=1978 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-05870-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lifeinenglishcou0000giro/page/189 189]}}</ref>
<ref name="RileyP22">{{citation |last=Riley |first=Peter |title=Wythenshawe Hall and the Tatton Family |year=1999 |edition=Revised |publisher=Peter Riley |isbn=1-874712-38-7|page=22}}</ref>
<ref name="NHLE">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1255034 |desc=Wythenshawe Hall |grade=II* |access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="NHLE1255038">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1255038 |desc=Former stable block to west of Wythenshawe Hall |grade=II |access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="EHWP">{{National Heritage List for England|num=1000857|desc=Wythenshaw Park|access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="NHLELodge">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1255036 |desc=North Lodge of Wythenshawe Hall |grade=II|access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="NHLEStatue">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1255035 |desc=Statue of Oliver Cromwell approx.100m east of Wythenshawe Hall |grade=II|access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="BBC_15Mar16">{{cite news |title=Fire destroys roof of historic Wythenshawe Hall in Manchester |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-35809417 |work=BBC News |date=15 March 2016 |access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="MEN_axe">{{cite news|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/axe-falls-on-family-festival-997107|title=Axe falls on family festival|date=29 August 2007|work=Manchester Evening News|access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name = "MEN 8 May 2004">{{cite news |title=Plea for historic gem |date=8 May 2004 |work=Manchester Evening News}}</ref><!-- Interestingly the MEN's website has a different date, see http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/plea-for-a-16th-century-gem-1108274 -->
<ref name="Cromwell">{{cite web |url= http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/pmsa-database/4606/|title= Oliver Cromwell |access-date=18 March 2016|publisher= Public Monument and Sculpture Association}}</ref>
<ref name="men_wythenshaw">{{cite news |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1422304_budget-crisis-could-lead-manchester-council-to-give-away-heaton-hall-and-wythenshawe-hall|title=Budget crisis could lead Manchester council to give away Heaton Hall and Wythenshawe Hall|work=Manchester Evening News|date=1 June 2011|last=Linton|first=Deborah|publisher=M.E.N. Media}}</ref>
<ref name="friends">{{cite web|title=Friends of Wythenshawe Hall |url=http://www.wythenshawehall.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110200449/http://www.wythenshawehall.com/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 November 2013 |publisher=Friends of Wythenshaw Hall |access-date=10 November 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="MCC_statue">{{cite web |title=Listed buildings in Manchester by street (W) |publisher=Manchester City Council |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1908&pageNumber=22 |access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="mc_hall">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_playgrounds_and_open_spaces/2242/wythenshawe_park/6 |title=Wythenshawe Park: The Hall |publisher=Manchester Council}}</ref>
<ref name="mc_parkhistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_playgrounds_and_open_spaces/2242/wythenshawe_park/5 |title=Wythenshawe Park |publisher=Manchester Council |access-date=18 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="mc_park">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_playgrounds_and_open_spaces/2242/wythenshawe_park |title=About the park |publisher=Manchester Council |access-date=19 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="mc_facilities">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_playgrounds_and_open_spaces/2242/wythenshawe_park/3 |title=Facilities in the park |publisher=Manchester Council |access-date=19 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="mc_antiroom">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/17775/ante-room_guide.pdf |title=Wythenshawe Hall - The Ante-room |publisher=Manchester City Council |access-date=19 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="men_23Mar16">{{cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/man-charged-arson-following-wythenshawe-11088211 |title=Man charged with arson following fire that engulfed Wythenshawe Hall |work=Manchester Evening News |date=23 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="mcc_22Mar16">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/news/article/7423/easter_at_wythenshawe_hall_will_go_ahead_with_a_little_help_from_our_friends |title=Easter at Wythenshawe Hall will go ahead with a little help from our Friends |website=Manchester City Council |date=22 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="bbc_23Mar16">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-35884212 |title=Wythenshawe Hall blaze: Man, 26, charged with arson |work=BBC News |date=23 March 2016 |access-date=23 March 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="MEN_21Oct16">{{cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/fire-ravaged-wythenshawe-hall-added-12058884 |title=Fire-ravaged Wythenshawe Hall added to Historic England's at risk register |work=Manchester Evening News |date=21 October 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="MEN_8Nov16">{{cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/planning-application-submitted-begin-repair-12148093 |title=Planning application submitted to begin repair works at fire-ravaged Wythenshawe Hall |work=Manchester Evening News |date=8 November 2016}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{EHbarName|Wythenshawe+Hall}}

{{Museums and galleries in Greater Manchester}}
{{Manchester B&S}}

[[Category:Houses in Manchester]]
[[Category:Country houses in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Museums in Manchester]]
[[Category:Wythenshawe]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1540]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed houses]]
[[Category:2010s fires in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:2016 disasters in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:2016 fires in Europe]]
[[Category:Tudor architecture]]
[[Category:Simon of Wythenshawe family]]