It's one of Manchester's oldest buildings. A piece of it could be lost for good
26.06.2024 - 03:11
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A new planning application has been submitted which proposes partially demolishing one of Manchester's oldest buildings to secure its future. Hidden away behind a primary school in Moston, Hough Hall is thought to be more than 500 years old.
The ramshackle timber-framed farm house is Grade II-listed and dates back to the early 16th century. Thought to have been built in 1502 for a Moston merchant called Hugh Sherlock, Hough Hall has a rich history.
It was acquired by Sir William Radcliffe of Ordsall Hall in 1568 and passed through branches of his family for 200 years, before it was purchased by Moston landowner Colonel Samuel Taylor in 1775, and kept within that family for over a hundred years, variously occupied by tenant farmers. In 1899 some of its grounds were sold to the council for the development of Moston Lane Primary School, which still stands next to it today.
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In modern times Hough Hall has been used as a butchers shop, doctors surgery and a lipstick manufacturer. The hall was sold again in 2005, but remained vacant, falling victim to vandalism and weather, resulting in it becoming increasingly dilapidated and ending up on the council's buildings at risk register.
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Land Register records show that the hall was sold in 2020 to its current owners, Sale based property developers Francoms Global Ltd, for £165,000. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in 2021, local historian Alan Hampson, said of the building: "Hough Hall is far and away the