Oughtrington Hall
Additional information details
| Name | Oughtrington Hall |
|---|---|
| Location | Lymm High School, Oughtrington Lane |
| Description |
Oughtrington Hall The hall was rebuilt about 1810 for Trafford Trafford, a descendant of the Leigh family of West Hall, High Legh and his wife Henrietta. He had changed his surname from Leigh to Trafford in 1791 in accordance with the terms of his uncle’s will. The historian George Ormerod, writing before 1819, says, ”The hall, a handsome and spacious mansion, has been recently nearly rebuilt, and is seated on high ground, commanding an extensive prospect of the vale of the Mersey and the high hills which inclose it.” The hall, principal gates and entrance lodge (also listed) are attributed to architect Thomas Harrison, who also designed the gateway to Chester Castle among many other projects. The Leighs had been associated with Oughtrington Park since the 1500s, John Leigh having married the sole heiress of the Wylme family, which is recorded there from 13th century. Before them, there is a rather hazy “de Hughtrington” family. So there are likely to have been several earlier versions of the current Oughtrington Hall. Trafford Trafford inherited the previous hall from his father John Leigh who died in 1806. An earlier, 17th century John Leigh had been an important benefactor of Lymm Grammar School. Trafford Trafford was an active magistrate and a long-time Chairman of Chester Quarter Sessions in the first half of the 19th century. Apart from hearing criminal cases, Quarter Sessions also had extensive local government powers. Although he and Henrietta had fourteen children, many had died by the time Trafford Trafford passed away in 1859, aged 88. Ownership passed to his son Richard Leigh Trafford, who eventually sold the estate in 1862 to George Charnley Dewhurst, a cotton manufacturer from Manchester. He lived at ‘Beechwood’ (now demolished and the site occupied by Lymm Rugby Club) and the hall was occupied by a succession of tenants: James Mottram, a wine merchant, and his family, Arthur Payne, a land agent, and his family and Benjamin Whitworth, an Irish Member of Parliament. Thereafter, a succession of Dewhurst families occupied the hall, including those of George Bakewell Dewhurst, (son of George C) until his death in 1891 and Gerard Powys Dewhurst (grandson of George C). The Dewhurst family business was successful and family members were heavily involved with village administration as well. They were also major local benefactors. St Peter’s Church (also listed) was built in 1871/72 “at the expense of G C Dewhurst;” he also made land and money available for the construction of the school buildings (now demolished) in Grammar School Road. By 1911, however, the family decided to sell both the Beechwood and Oughtrington Estates. They moved completely away from Lymm. The estates were bought by William Lever on behalf of Lever Bros. soap manufacturers. The future Lord Leverhulme had no plans to live in any of the grand houses he had acquired, however. Instead, he was interested in the fact that salt had been found under some of the estate land at Heatley. The remaining land and buildings – amounting to a large part of the village – were put back on the market and the estates were broken up. No-one bought Oughtrington Hall which was now empty. Enter Henry Ford, American car manufacturer, and his wife Clara. At the beginning of the Great War 1914-18, becoming aware of the plight of Belgian refugees, the Fords worked though Percival Perry, their Manchester agent, to lease the Oughtrington estate. The hall was refurbished and made available for ninety Belgian refugees, although the number rose to a maximum of 110 in 1915. Among them were a priest, a shoemaker, a dressmaker, a tailor, a pharmacist and a doctor. “We have a man who owned his own restaurant in Liège cooking the food,” wrote Perry to Ford. In the end, the Fords spent over a hundred thousand dollars on operating expenses until the facility was closed in 1918. After the Great War, many large country houses languished for want of occupants. Social changes that had started before the war made them less attractive to buy, maintain and staff. ‘Beechwood’ was demolished in the 1920s. In 1926, however, Oughtrington Hall was purchased by Kenneth Treherne-Thomas, who lived there with his family until 1939. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he was chairman and managing director of Monks Hall Ltd. iron and steel manufacturers of Warrington. His parents also lived there. On his father’s death in 1932, their family business in Wales was said to control more than half the Welsh tin-plate trade. The family finally moved away in 1939. The next occupants of Oughtrington Hall were Captain and Mrs Sydney Frankenburg. She was a writer of children’s stories; his father had been Mayor of Salford. They were not alone. Forty-one children aged between 18 months and 5 years were evacuated from Greengate Hospital Open-Air School, Salford, which moved to Oughtrington Hall during the war years. At the end of the Second World War, the hall was once more vacant. The Lymm Grammar School buildings in Grammar School Road were becoming overcrowded and the head teacher, J R Canney, proposed that the hall should be used as an annexe. Prompt action by the head teacher and chair of governors, Alfred Watkin, persuaded the County Council to purchase the hall and it was in operation by December 1945. By 1957, additional buildings had been erected and the school was wholly based at the Oughtrington Hall site. The Grammar School Road buildings were used for a new Secondary Modern School. In 1978, after the introduction of comprehensive education, both schools were amalgamated on the Oughtrington Hall site and further buildings were put up. The former Grammar School buildings were demolished in the 1980s and the land re-used for housing. So Oughtrington Hall has survived not just because it is a listed building but because a valid use has always been found for it. It is interesting to note that the school is now occupying the estate that once belonged to one of its earliest benefactors, John Leigh of Oughtrington. 1st Draft Roger Hannam 28 March 2023 Listed Lymm Image Reference Number: LL1227311 |
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