Samlesbury Hall
Whenever we go to Morecambe, mum always manages to come up with another little gem we have never heard of before to visit. This time around it was Samlesbury Hall. It is about six miles east of Preston and easy to find if you ignore the sat-nav’s useless instructions.
You enter past the lodge which is striking in its black and white Tudor stylings, although of course the black and white was really the Victorians putting their spin on what they thought the Tudor style should look like and it was them who went around painting them all in black and white.
Then up the drive and there is the main hall in all its black and white splendour. The hall is free to enter, the upkeep comes from donations and the money made from the café, gift shop, and restaurant on the site.
I stop to take some (well a lot really) photos outside as Helen and my mum head inside. And as the building is mainly black and while I take the chance to do some black and white photos as well, something I rarely think of doing.
When I got inside, I followed where they already were away into the parlour.
And then into the great hall.
Hidden away is the wonderful alcove with the various coats of arms of kings and queens over the years.
There is a curtain which may be drawn across this alcove, and a grand piano sits in the space which hides the frescos on the wall beneath the windows.
Around the ceiling of the great hall are various coats of arms of families connected with the hall over the years.
Through the hall is the area where the restaurant used to be. It is now out in the grounds in a new building, but there are some nice comfortable looking sofas here.
Off to the side is the billiard room and a staircase up to the first floor at the top of which are rooms with paintings adorning the wall from local artists, including a room of paintings by Sir Charles Holmes.
Most of the rooms have a little sign on the tables saying that the rooms can be hired.
There is then a corridor which is over the entrance into the courtyard and displays more of the history of the building.
At the other end is a room detailing the work of Stanley Jeeves, both in saving the hall, and his filming and explorations.
Out the far side of the room is the stairs down to the café and gift shop. I feel I have missed something and so I retrace my steps back out to the great hall.
I find I did miss quite a lot. Behind the hall is the kitchen.
And in my rush to catch up I missed paying any attention to the entrance hall when coming into the building.
As off to the other side is the chapel, laid out as a wedding venue.
The back of the chapel has more heraldry.
There are stairs up, and the chapel has a gallery to it where the altar and the hanging cross can be seen from the front. And where if you were at the back the priest wouldn’t have been able to see you having a snooze.
To the other side of the stairs above the parlour is the upper hall with various period costumes set up on dummies around it.
The hall also contains a crucifix reliquary.
And some odd-looking people.
To the side there is the entrance to the priest’s room, which is over the alcove of the great hall with the stained glass.
There is a little view down into the great hall, but the balcony that can be seen from down there is closed and blocked off to prevent access.
Above this is the priest’s hole. I’d never thought about there being them up in the eaves of houses, it was always holes in the ground or in chimney stacks to my mind.
Carrying on through there is the little schoolroom,
and the wonderfully messy children’s bedroom.
There is a door at the end which is now locked and has fire exit on it, but previously used to have all the history of the building laid out in a timeline, which hopefully will reopen at some point.
I find the others in the café having a drink, and when they go off to see the parts they have missed I go out into the courtyard.
With the fountain,
And around to the brick fronted part of the building. It is this part of the building that can be seen from the road, which is somewhat of a shame as the black and white wooden frontage of the rest of the building would be more eye catching to casual passers-by.
In this front part of the gardens is the rosarium.
History
In 1322 Robert the Bruce crossed the River Ribble near Samlesbury Lower Hall and burnt down that house. Nicholas Dewyas was the resident lord and started to rebuild there. His son in law Gilbert de Southworth, husband of Dewyas’s daughter Alice started to build a house for himself on the site of the current house at the same time as it was away from the ford in the river. When Dewyas died both houses came to be owned by the Southworths.
The house used to be moated, and the southern part of this moat would have been where the Preston Road now goes past the house. The curved ended crosses that adorn the outer walls of the current house come from the Southworth coat of arms.
In 1678, the estate was split and the main Samlesbury Hall was sold to a Thomas Braddyll, and over time it became an inn called “The Braddyll Arms”.
In 1846 this was bought by a John Cooper, who then let out the hall in tenancy to a Mrs M.A. Harrison. In 1862 a different family of Harrisons bought the hall from John Cooper and the tenant Mrs Harrison was forced to leave. This new family of Harrisons made repairs and extended the original property and moved in.
In 1900 they were letting it out to Fred Baines, who was the High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire, he stayed there until 1909. After which point the house was not occupied and looked after by caretakers.
In 1925 the hall was purchased in the public interest by subscription, and a trust was founded by a group of gentlemen of Blackburn; Dr S.A. Davies, Thomas B Lewis, J.W. Marsden, Frank Morton, and Henry Whittaker. It was Thomas B Lewis who presented the hall with the collection of oil paintings by Sir Charles Holmes (a Preston native and at one time Director of the National Gallery).
The current courtyard is now to the west of great hall, but until Victorian times it had been to the east, and the east and north facings of the Hall which are now open used to be enclosed by the stables and gate house blocks.
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