waveydave
Out & About Exploration
In the mid-17th century, Richard Scott acquired the house then standing on the site and known as Nether House. In about 1777, Joseph scott (later Sir Joseph Scott, 1st baronet of great barr) replaced the old house with a two-storey, nine-bay mansion in the strawberry Hill gothic revival style. The house was much altered and extended about 1840 and in 1863, an adjacent chapel (which was never consecrated) was erected but became a games room.Outside the chapel are the burial plots of several of Lady Bateman Scott's pets, inscribed with poems she wrote for them.
Financial problems led the Scott Family to lease out the hall from about 1788 to Samuel Galton and for some years the Hall became a venue for meetings of the" Lunar society". It is said to be the 'favourite place of meeting' of this illustrious body.
In 1791, Sir Francis Scott, 3rd Baronet, inherited the manor of Great Barr from his maternal uncle. He died in 1863. His widow Mildred lived on in the Hall until her death in 1909.
In 1911, the estate was purchased by a local hospital board and, in 1918, became St Margaret's colony for the Mentally defective. Many detached hospital buildings were erected near the hall, and in the 1980s the grounds became a country park. The hall itself was abandoned in 1978 and, despite its 1971 Grade II* listing, was left to decay. The hospital began to close in phases from the late 1980s. The male department closed during 1992 but the female department closed in March 1997. The final residents, those with high dependency, left a newer part of the site in 2004.
Now there is no trace of the hospital as a new housing estate sits in it's place. The hall has changed hands several times, failed restoration attempts have left the hall a shell. Most timberwork has been removed due to extensive dry rot, and walls stripped of plaster before being left to thieves and vandals. Several later additions to the hall have been removed giving much of the hall a ruined appearance.
Standing inside I wonder about the conversations that took place here when the lunar society met. Some of the world's greatest minds were members. James Watt, JB Priestly, Lovell, and the father of Charles Darwin to name a few.
Dispite the state of the building it soon becomes clear that this place is all about the cellars. Easily the biggest system I've seen with various types of storage shelves for wine, meats, coal, etc. In one of the vaults a spring feeds a well which then drains via a gutter into the next chamber and then out through a culvert. Oddly these two vaults appear to still have the wooden timber formers in situ that were used in the vaults construction.
We left as darkness fell, and it fell quickly. With the only properties nearby shielded by trees there is little light pollution. And so the walk back to the car in pitch black with the sound of owls in the trees was certainly creepy.
Thanks fer lookin
Financial problems led the Scott Family to lease out the hall from about 1788 to Samuel Galton and for some years the Hall became a venue for meetings of the" Lunar society". It is said to be the 'favourite place of meeting' of this illustrious body.
In 1791, Sir Francis Scott, 3rd Baronet, inherited the manor of Great Barr from his maternal uncle. He died in 1863. His widow Mildred lived on in the Hall until her death in 1909.
In 1911, the estate was purchased by a local hospital board and, in 1918, became St Margaret's colony for the Mentally defective. Many detached hospital buildings were erected near the hall, and in the 1980s the grounds became a country park. The hall itself was abandoned in 1978 and, despite its 1971 Grade II* listing, was left to decay. The hospital began to close in phases from the late 1980s. The male department closed during 1992 but the female department closed in March 1997. The final residents, those with high dependency, left a newer part of the site in 2004.
Now there is no trace of the hospital as a new housing estate sits in it's place. The hall has changed hands several times, failed restoration attempts have left the hall a shell. Most timberwork has been removed due to extensive dry rot, and walls stripped of plaster before being left to thieves and vandals. Several later additions to the hall have been removed giving much of the hall a ruined appearance.
Standing inside I wonder about the conversations that took place here when the lunar society met. Some of the world's greatest minds were members. James Watt, JB Priestly, Lovell, and the father of Charles Darwin to name a few.
Dispite the state of the building it soon becomes clear that this place is all about the cellars. Easily the biggest system I've seen with various types of storage shelves for wine, meats, coal, etc. In one of the vaults a spring feeds a well which then drains via a gutter into the next chamber and then out through a culvert. Oddly these two vaults appear to still have the wooden timber formers in situ that were used in the vaults construction.
We left as darkness fell, and it fell quickly. With the only properties nearby shielded by trees there is little light pollution. And so the walk back to the car in pitch black with the sound of owls in the trees was certainly creepy.
Thanks fer lookin
