# Winstanley Hall : Late Oct 2011



## Mars Lander (Oct 28, 2011)

Been here a couple of times now first time didn't brave upstairs as it's a bit dodgy but second time what the hell upstairs and up more stairs and to the roof, Yippee!!

The first time after exploring the main hall went out to the rather fancy outbuildings altho they looked amazing from the outside not much to see inside more like barns, the best thing in the grounds is the amazing statue of Neptune arising from the ground astride 3 horses magnificent alas no picture here.

As i was climbing into one of the out buildings on the first visit a guy appeared and not too happy, he walked us off the estate , walking a little close for comfort behind me , so I started to walk even slower till he came along side me, he told us the original owner just left one day in 1975 and moved to his Gloucester estate and also told us we were very lucky not to have bumped into his Mrs who was out picking berries with the bullmastiff, the dog with the guy was quite friendly and kept dropping a stick for me to throw for him.

The guy then left us to go into his house at the front of the estate and there was me thinking we had the place to ourselves, Like Winstanley Hall his house looks to have seen better days but thats where the similarities end as it was never as grand as the hall lool.

Hence the second visit : only STAY in the Hall!

Some History 

The hall was built in the 1560s for the Winstanley family. The Winstanleys owned the hall until 1596, when the estate was sold to James Bankes, a London goldsmith and banker, Winstanley Hall has three storeys and has a date stone with a date of 1584, extra blocks were added in the 17th and 18th centuries. Further and extensive alterations were made in 1811-19 by Lewis Wyatt in a Jacobean style. He moved the entrance to the left flank of the hall and replacing the original entrance with a window. The final additions to the hall were made in 1843 when an extra wing was added. A small stone building to the south was used to house bears that provided entertainment for the hall's guests non remain as i could see?.

The Bankes family retained ownership of the hall until the 21st century when it was sold for private development. The hall had been kept in good condition until the 1960s when habitation stopped. As the building decayed and the cost of maintaining Winstanley Hall was too much for the family so it was sold. It was intended to develop the hall into private flats, however refurbishment was held up due to Wigan council withholding planning permission.

Enough of the history lesson, lets pik...

It doesn't really reveal itself till your almost upon it the trees hide it pretty well.







As well as the usual welcome signs that adjourn our fave destinations,
such as "Danger Keep Out Unsafe Building" , "Warning Abestos" , "Security Patrol this Area" etc. there was one that curiously announced "No Children Allowed", now thats just not fair  ........ 






No matter how wide your lens is, it's sometimes hard to appreciate the size of some of the rooms this one in particular is LARGE






One of the few downstairs windows not boarded up







Most of the next shots are upstairs as there is more light but also very unsafe floors, its a quite a merry dance to access some of the rooms


























It's all gone a bit Tetris here
















Good times gone south






Nice Jug, only one alas, artifacts are pretty much scarce here, althou there are some scattered about, its a big place.











Check that colour scheme, I wonder if there is some old boy/girl out there who has fond memories of their old mAd room 






the above seems very inconsistent with ...

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6034/6288669186_064b567f9e_z.jpg[/img]

Now that is some fine wood




Great vistas from the roof







and finally in the blackness my first explore rat , oh joy




Also of interest was the large cellar that had a bricked up section, one of the bricks was missing and you could see that it did go on further

Plus the cold room in the kitchen that had a massive iron door, great to get one of your comrades in and try and slam it shut , I had no takers for such a proposition.

Thanks for visiting with me 
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## TeeJF (Oct 28, 2011)

This I am liking!


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## Foxylady (Oct 29, 2011)

Ooh, neat! Some great carved wood and the odd interesting artefact. Very nice explore and pics.


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## King Al (Oct 29, 2011)

Like the wood panelling! good stuff ADO


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## PROSNIPER (Oct 29, 2011)

thanks for posting that loving the pics


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