The Georgian mansion of Hope Hall stood on the north side of Eccles Old Road for over 200 years. It was demolished in 1956 for the construction of Hope Hall Secondary school. This may have been the last in a succession of houses that have stood on the Hope estate since the 16th century. For much of that time it was in the possession of two related families – the Bradshaws and the Bayleys. They were followed by a succession of merchants, manufacturers and politicians who lived in Hope Hall from the early 1800s.

Hope Hall – west frontage 1950s

References to a manor at ‘le Hope’ date from the early 13th century.  In 1212 the estate was described as two oxgangs of land held by Ellis de Pendlebury from Iorweth de Hulton, lord of Pendleton, for a rent of 4s. This would have been around 30 to 40 acres of land. By 1380 Richard de Radcliffe of Ordsall had a house and 60 acres of arable land in The Hope, and it seems to have stayed in this family for around 200 years. In 1561 Katherine, the widow of Sir William Radcliffe is recorded as living at Hope.

The Bradshaws of Hope There are references to a William Bradshaw acquiring in 1595 the Hope estate with an ‘ancient house’, paying a chief rent of 2s. 6d. to the Duchy of Lancaster. The location of this old house is unclear.  The earliest map of the estate showing a house is that of 1815. A group of buildings in a wooded area west of the Georgian hall is referred to as Broad Hope. An Ordnance Survey map of 1848 shows the same site, calling it Old Hope. It is possible that this is the site of the original house that William Bradshaw had bought. At least one Victorian source tells us that the Georgian hall was ‘rebuilt on its old foundations’ in 1750. Perhaps the Bradshaw family had built another house east of Broad Hope in the 1600s. We simply do not know. 

The parish registers for St Mary the Virgin in Eccles include a baptism in October 1620 of ‘Richard, son of Lawrence Bradshaw of ye Hope, gent.’  Tragically, Richard’s life was short, and we can read that on Christmas Eve in 1624 the four year old was buried, having drowned. It is not known if the drowning occurred close to his home, but it is highly likely that there were water courses and ponds on the Hope estate which would certainly have been farmed. The 1815 map clearly shows a ‘canal’ running between the meadows east of Broad Hope. 

Four generations of Bradshaws were recorded at Hope in 1664-5 when Sir William Dugdale undertook his Heraldic Visitation of Lancashire. Visitations were carried out during the 16th and 17th centuries to verify the right to use coats of arms and certain titles. In 1664 Raphe or Ralph Bradshawe of Pendleton and Thomas Tildesley were required to attend the King’s Head in Salford, “for registeringe their descents and justifying their titles of Esquires and Gentlemen as their rights of such Coates of Arms and Crests which they usually shew forth and bear.”  We do not know who Thomas Tildesley was, but unlike Raphe Bradshaw’s the Tildesley pedigree does not appear to have made it into the official Visitation records. Maybe he remained plain Mr Tildseley?

Raphe Bradshaw can be found in the probate records at Lancashire archives. In his will, proved in 1667,  Raphe describes himself as ‘of Pendleton…Gentleman’. The document does not refer to Hope by name. The will does tell us that his wife was Rachell and he had sons –  James and John, and daughters – Frances and Rebecca. This fits with the information in the pedigree presented to Dugdale, so we can safely conclude that this is indeed Raphe Bradshaw of Hope. His executors include ‘my friend…Ralph Bradshaw of Hartshill within Pendleton’. It seems likely that this other Ralph Bradshaw was a relative as well as a friend.

Raphe bequeaths the house ‘wherein I do now inhabit and dwell’  to his wife, for her lifetime and afterwards to his eldest son James and his ‘lawfully begotten’ children. If there are no such children then by default the house is to pass to the younger son John. John and his sisters are to receive £100 when they reach 21 years of age. James also gets ‘the Signett Ring which was my Grandfathers’, while John is left ‘the signett ring which I usually wear’.

Image of Raphe Bradshaw's original will of 1667
1667 Will of Raphe Bradshaw of Hope Hall
(Reproduced with permission from Lancashire Archives, Lancashire County Council, Ref:WCW/C170B/23)

In addition to the bequests to his family, Raphe also leaves a charitable legacy:

“I give unto the poor of the township of Pendleton fourtie shillings the sum to be paid to the overseers of the poor of Pendleton to be distributed by them amongst the poor”

Raphe’s will is accompanied by an inventory of the contents of his house. It reveals that the house had a parlour, cellars, a kitchen and four chambers. The inventory details the house and the contents of each of the rooms and values Raphe’s estate at £529.14s. 00d. The house is not grand in size. Most of the value of the estate listed in the inventory is not in actual goods, but in money, gold, bonds for money owed and income from leases on properties. The most valuable items of property were two feather beds with pillows, valued at £3 and £4 each.

Extracts from 1667 Inventory of Hope Hall with the will of Raphe Bradshaw (Reproduced with permission from Lancashire Archives, Lancashire County Council, Ref:WCW/C170B/23)

Almost 30 years later another inventory at Lancashire archives updates our knowledge of the old house at Hope. Thomas Bradshaw died in 1696, leaving a wife, Mary and a son, also Thomas. Thomas Bradshaw’s will does not appear to have survived, but the original detailed inventory drawn up on 11th July 1696 on the instructions of his widow, lists 13 rooms, including a hall and parlour, six chambers, pantry, milkhouse and brewhouse. The total value of the contents was £50.5s.0d.

Another document found with the inventory was an obligation undertaken by the widow Mary to ‘vertuously educate and bring up in learning Thomas Bradshaw a minor son of Thomas Bradshaw late of Hope in ye County of Lancs. Gen. deceased.’  She also undertook to manage all the property and monies that he would inherit, using it to the best advantage and profit of the boy and to pay it all to him when he came of age. In the meantime, she would keep him in ‘sufficient Meat, Drink, Lodging, Apparel and all other necessaries…’ 

Mary Bradshaw’s Obligation 11 July 1696 (Reproduced with permission from Lancashire Archives, Lancashire County Council, Ref:WCW/C268B/0)

If Mary Bradshaw fulfilled all these obligations, it appears that her efforts were not well appreciated or rewarded. A court record from 1709 indicates that when the younger Thomas Bradshaw acquired Hope Hall less than 10 years after his father’s death, he was not generous with his inheritance. A record from the quarter sessions show that he had to be ordered to pay for the upkeep of his widowed mother Mary.

Mary Bradshaw widow of Pendleton having made her application to the court for a weekly allowance for and towards her maintenance and upkeep she having no estate real or personal but is now in great need and it is appearing in the … of persons here present Thomas Bradshaw of Hope Hall in Pendleton aforesaid gentleman Son of the said Mary Bradshaw is a person of sufficient ability to maintain his said mother.

This court doth therefore order that said Thomas Bradshaw on sight hereof do allow and pay unto his said mother the weekly sum of five shillings for her upkeep and continue the weekly payment thereof to her until the next sessions to be holden in Manchester ..…. unless he can show just cause to the contrary. Manchester Midsummer Quarter Sessions 1709

This may well be the same Thomas Bradshaw who in 1744 was on the list of ‘leypayers’ in the church records of St. Mary’s. Leypayers were local residents who agreed to have their estates assessed for contributions to the upkeep of the Church and the provision of pews and settles. The records for 1744 contain,

A true copy of the Church Ley for and within the parish of Eccles, containing the names of the inhabitants within the said parish, with the particular sums each person is to pay, according as they are rated, taxed, and assessed, by and within the general assent and consent of the inhabitants of the aforesaid parish. The Ancient Parish Church of Eccles, J. Harland, 1864

Pendleton leypayers in 1744 included ‘Thos Bradshaw de Hope, gentleman, 2s. 2d.’ He was clearly of substantial means, as his was one of the highest assessed rates. The total for the whole of Pendleton amounted to £1 19s.  2d. We do not know when Thomas Bradshaw died and have not found any will. It appears that around 1745-49 Hope Hall was sold by Bradshaw or his executors to his relation Daniel Bayley (1699-1764), one time Deputy-Lieutenant of the county . 

The Bayleys of Hope Daniel Bayley is believed to have bought the freehold of the Hope estate around 1745 and rebuilt the house in 1750. Some sources say that his father, James Bayley a Manchester merchant, had lived at Hope Hall, but he died in 1753 and we have seen no evidence of him living at Hope. Daniel’s grandfather, also Daniel, was a Manchester silk weaver who had married Sarah Bradshaw from Darcy Lever. This branch of the Bradshaw family were probably descended from Lawrence Bradshaw’s brother, so the purchaser of the estate would have been well acquainted with the property.

The house that Daniel built in 1750 would have been a substantial brick-built property in the classical style typical of the mid 18th century. We have no drawings, plans or maps from the first 65 years; alterations and additions may well have been made before the first map of the estate in 1815.  A frontage parallel to Eccles Old Road would have afforded views across fields and the Buile Hill estate down to the River Irwell and beyond over the Cheshire Plain. An artist’s impression of this south frontage shows a perfectly symmetrical elevation of a three- storey central building with rectangular windows and prominent keystones. Single-storey links at each side join the two-storey west and east wings. This drawing is undated and of unknown origin, so its accuracy is open to question. 

Artist’s impression of south facing frontage of Hope Hall, undated

Daniel was interested in science and in June 1761 he allowed the Hope Hall estate to be used by Samuel Smethurst and Peter Clare to observe the Transit of Venus across the sun. During a transit, Venus can be seen from earth as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun. This was only the second time it had been possible to observe and record the phenomenon, the first being over 100 years earlier. Eight years later in June 1769 Daniel’s son, Thomas Butterworth Bayley, again let Smethurst and Clare use Hope to observe the transit. These two transits involved hundreds of observers in around 150 locations around the world and have been described as the first world-wide collaboration in the history of science. There have been only four transits since then and the next is not due until 2117.

Many Salford school children were taught that Hope Hall was once the home of Clive of India. Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive of Plassy, was the nephew of Daniel Bayley’s first wife, Elizabeth Gaskell. He was reportedly brought up and educated by his uncle Daniel Bayley and his ‘Aunt Bay’ from the age of three. Daniel certainly wrote of the period he had care of the boy and of his fierce and imperious temper. Sir Robert Clive later wrote fondly of his memories of Manchester. However, those memories were unlikely to have been of Hope Hall. Robert’s aunt died in 1734. He was first sent to Madras at the age of 18 in 1743 while working for the East India Company. By the time Daniel Bayley was rebuilding Hope Hall around 1750 Robert Clive was an adult and living in India. He may well have visited Hope Hall in later years, but he could not have lived there as a child.

On Daniel Bayley’s death in 1764, he was reportedly buried at his own request on the meadow at Hart Hill, opposite Hope Hall. The Local Gleanings magazine of the late 1870s stated that he was later disinterred and reburied at St Mary’s in Eccles. However, a tombstone at Cross Street Chapel claimed ‘Here lie the remains of’ Daniel Bayley, his wife and several of his children.

Only one of Daniel Bayley’s children from his two marriages survived him to inherit the Hope estate. This was Thomas Butterworth Bayley who was born in 1744 and who lived virtually all of his life at Hope Hall. Thomas was an influential public figure in Salford and Manchester. A more detailed biography can be found in the People pages.

Thomas Butterworth Bayley was educated at Edinburgh University, where he became a firm and lifelong friend of Dr. Thomas Percival. No doubt he encouraged and assisted Percival in his purchase of Hart Hill in 1775. They shared an interest in the improvement of agriculture by application of scientific knowledge. On the Hope estate he introduced and tested new farming methods and published his findings. In 1772 he wrote wrote a pamphlet entitled On a Cheap and Expeditious Method of Draining Land. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1773 and was an Honorary member of the Board of Agriculture.

His 1795 paper to the Manchester Agricultural Society questioned why human waste was not collected and used as a fertiliser, 

Front page of T.B.Bayley 1795 paper "Thoughts on the Necessity and Advantages of Care and Oeconomy in Collecting and Preserving different Substances For Manure.
Thomas B Bayley 1795 paper to Manchester Agricultural Society

‘Let NOTHING be lost! ….why is this manure, which is esteemed by far the most efficacious of all others, most commonly lost in England, even in the midst of our real distress for want of corn? In China and Japan, we are told, the laws prohibit the waste or neglect of human excrement; and enjoin to every family to make reservoirs for its preservation: the cultivators of their soil use, solely, this manure to raise corn; because unlike the dung of horses and cattle, it contains not the seeds of weeds…..for true is the old Scots proverb, “muck is the mother of the meal-chest”.

Land Tax Assessment records in Lancashire Archives show that in the 1780s, the estate was taxed at between £10 and £11 a year.  For much of this time over half the tax due was for land occupied by four tenants. In 1798 Land Tax was set at 4 shillings in the pound (20 percent). At the next assessment the Hope estate was liable for just under £8 3s 10d.

Hope Hall Land Tax Assessment, 1782 (Reproduced with permission from Lancashire Archives, Lancashire County Council, Ref: QDL/1782/S/73)

A newspaper advert in early 1799 sought a tenant for Hope Farm,

‘lately occupied by Mr John Mayo as a Milk and Hay farm…one hundred and fifty statute acres of rich meadow and pasture land, in the highest state of cultivation and improvement…And the farm house, with the gardens and orchards would be a pleasant country residence.’ Manchester Mercury 15 Feb 1799

Prospective tenants were asked to enquire of Thomas B Bayley. He clearly had an eye for the potential for diversification, as he adds, ‘NB Part of this farm, from its streams of water, is well fitted for the purposes of manufacture.’ The Land Tax records show that in 1799 the 150 acre Hope Farm occupied by John Mayo was assessed for £3 6s 9d tax, a substantial part of the total estate dues. 

Two months later the paper advertised,

‘HOPE FARM LEY, there will be a good ley at Hope Farm near Eccles for Horses and Cattle from Old May Day to Old Michaelmas Day. For particulars apply at Hope Hall. There is plenty of good water and the pasturage will be properly changed.’ (a Ley was a piece of land put down to grass, clover, etc., for a single season). Manchester Mercury 16 April 1799

Land Tax Assessment returns in Lancashire Archives indicate that after the death of Thomas Butterworth Bayley in 1802, his widow Mary continued living at Hope Hall until 1806. Even after this date, the Bayley family was still responsible for payment of the taxes until 1812.  The estate had been inherited by Thomas’s eldest son, Daniel, a merchant based in Russia. In 1812, Daniel lost a great deal of money and gave up his business interests to take up the post of Consul-General in St Petersburg. His financial troubles may have been the reason why, after over 60 years, the Hope estate passed out of the Bayley family and was sold to Edward Hobson (1757-1828).

Hope Hall in the 19th century  If Hope Hall in the 18th century had been largely characterised by agriculture, the next hundred years were to be the century of the merchants and manufacturers. A succession of businessmen from Lancashire and beyond made the Hope estate their semi-rural retreat from the increasingly industrial urban centres. Biographies of many of these residents will be added to the People pages.

We can see from the 1815 map the shape of the house Edward Hobson had recently bought. It was a C shaped building with a wing at the south western corner. Two small detached buildings lay to the north of the house and footpaths linked with other buildings in adjacent fields. There was just one entrance to the site from Broomhouse Lane at its south east corner. There is no lodge at this entrance in 1815. It is not known what structural changes were made to Hope Hall itself while the Hobson family lived there, though it is likely that the first lodge was added by them before 1838.

1815 map

Edward Hobson’s lengthy and detailed will made provision for his wife Betty to live in Hope Hall for the rest of her life, after which time it would pass to their son Edward Hobson jnr (1801-1861). The will specified the extent of the estate being left to Betty and her responsibility for maintaining house and land:

concerning my said capital messuage or mansion house called Hope Hall with the offices….   grounds hothouses greenhouses and appurts. thereto belonging and also the several closes or fields called the Canal Meadow with the shrubbery adjoining thereto the Ring Meadow the Anne Meadow with the small meadow now laid thereto and the …..   Field and the appurtenances thereof respectively to the use of my dear wife Betty Hobson and her assigns for and during the term of her natural life she keeping the said ….premises….in good… repair and condition.”

The 1815 map shows the location of the Ring Meadow and we can assume that the Canal Meadow is adjacent to the watercourse, possibly the one marked Low Meadow. It is interesting that the estate includes Ann’s Meadow, which can be seen on the map to be south of the hall across Broomhouse Lane, adjacent to Hart Hill Meadow. It appears that the original Hope estate encompassed a sizeable area of land south of Broomhouse Lane. It is possible that the land on which James Touchet built Broome House (on the corner of what is now Tootal Drive and Eccles Old Road) had been gifted to his mother Sarah Bayley, whose family had owned the Hope estate.

The Hope estate had also extended west at least as far as the current Lancaster Road. Whilst Edward Hobson snr had left Hope Hall itself and land around it to his wife Betty, the trustees of his will began to sell off other parts of the estate as early as 1836. Sales of land firstly to Samuel Brooks and then art dealer Thomas Agnew and his family led to the development of the Fairhope and Hope Park estate from the early 1850s.

Betty Hobson had clearly been a keen and knowledgeable plantswoman and we see from Edward’s will that Hope Hall had hothouses and greenhouses. After her death in 1838, newspaper adverts announced an auction of her collection:

Splendid Collection of Plants, at Hope Hall
The whole of the Splendid and Valuable COLLECTION of Stove, Greenhouse and Orchideous PLANTS, the property of the late Mrs Hobson of Hope, comprising a great variety of camellias, (varying from 2 to 8 feet in height), ericas, amaryllis, cactus and every other desirable genus that could be obtained and selected from the first establishments in the kingdom.
From the well known taste and knowledge of the late respected owner, Mr. Capes can with confidence recommend them to all lovers of this truly delightful recreation. 
May be viewed on the Monday and Tuesday preceding the sale, between the hours of ten and four, when catalogues may be had from John Baxendale,  the gardener on the premises; or at Mr CAPES’ office at 90, King Street, ManchesterManchester Courier and General Advertiser, 14 April 1838

Betty Hobson’s son Edward inherited Hope Hall in 1838 and we know that it was sold shortly afterwards, as a newspaper advert the following year announced the auction of the remaining contents, ‘in consequence of Edward Hobson Esq. having sold the Hope estate.’

An interesting advert appeared in the Manchester Guardian on 13 October 1838 which might help explain who purchased at least part of the estate. Headed, ‘PROSPECTUS OF THE HOPE REVERSIONARY ASSOCIATION’, the advert explained that 20 acres of the Hope estate could be secured for twopence a square yard, for the erection of dwelling houses. £40,000 was to be raised by subscriptions of 400 shares at £100 each. Subscribers could nominate persons ‘with benefit of survivorship’ for each share. No person could hold more than five shares and every nominated person had to be over the age of 60 years. When, by death of nominees, the 400 shareholders reduced to 20, those survivors would share the remaining 20 shares. ,

The Trustees of this proposed reversionary association included Edward Loyd, who was one of Edward Hobson’s executors and James Dugdale, who twenty years later would purchase and rebuild Hart Hill.

We have not found an announcement for the sale of Hope Hall itself but the next owner was Richard Gould (1792-1868), a cotton merchant from a prosperous Derbyshire family. From 1839 we find Richard leasing and buying additional land on the Hope Hall estate. It was Gould who split the house into two separate residences and at the 1841 census he was living in one half of the hall with his second wife, the daughter of Manchester solicitor William Sergeant.

The other half of Hope Hall was leased by Gould to William Harter (1790-1872), a Manchester merchant and silk manufacturer. The 1841 census shows Harter living next door to Gould, with his wife and six children, and employing a governess, one male and seven female servants. His family lived in the hall for almost 35 years until his death in 1872 and his wife’s the following year.

At the end of 1842, when Richard Gould split Hope Hall into two dwellings and while continuing to live in half of it, he conveyed the house and some land for a mortgage to G.H.Peel. This may have been to raise money to build The Rookery, a house to the north of the Hall on what had been Ring Meadow. The Rookery was completed in early 1844, at which time this property was also conveyed by Gould to G.H.Peel. It appears that Richard Gould’s complex financial and property dealings were beginning to unravel. The family left Hope Hall around the start of 1850 and moved to Stand in the Radcliffe. The Manchester Courier of August 1851 announced Gould’s “stoppage”, stating that he had assets of £30,000 but debts of £48,000, owed mainly to two banks and his own relatives. Trustees were appointed to manage his remaining assets. After another move to Bromsgrove, where his wife died in 1857, Richard Gould relocated to live near his daughter in Norfolk. He died intestate in 1868 living in a modest mid-terraced house in Great Yarmouth.

Hope Hall after Richard Gould’s departure c.1852

For the rest of the 19th century Hope Hall would continue to be occupied as two separate residences. The 1848 map does not show a physical division of the house, but it appears that there were two good sized residential sections, one facing south, the other west.

Gould’s successor as William Harter’s neighbour was another merchant, Wood Gibson born 1799. He didn’t stay long at Hope: his daughter was married from there in June 1850 and in November 1852 his wife died. In May 1854, a newspaper advert announced that Wood Gibson was moving home and the contents of his Hope Hall residence were being sold.  

Early 19th century additions and alterations The next evidence we have of additions to the estate is the 1841 Census, which lists Hope Hall Lodge, occupied by gardener Samuel Redford. This lodge was probably where the gardener John Baxendale had been living in 1838 at the time of the plant sale, indicating that the lodge had been built by the Hobsons.

1848 OS map

The OS map published in 1848, which had been surveyed in 1845, shows that the original C shape had been extended on its eastern side to create a squarer house around a central courtyard. The west elevation appears to have had a bay added and the two lodges have been built at the south east entrance.  The style of these lodges indicates that they were not specifically designed for Hope, but were chosen from standard designs available in catalogues.

The appointment of trustees to manage Richard Gould’s remaining assets may have offered the perfect opportunity to sell the Hall and estate. In 1852 extensive adverts in the Manchester press announced an ‘opportunity seldom to be met with for investment of capital, with a certain prospect of the return of  an unusually large per centage’.  The advert tells us that an auction is to be held,

By Mr CAPES, at the Clarence Hotel, Spring Gardens, Manchester, on Wednesday the 8th day of September 1852 at five o’clock in the afternoon….

All that valuable FREEHOLD PROPERTY at Pendleton in the county of Lancaster, comprising Hope Hall and The Rookery, with the various gardens, plantations, shrubberies and pleasure gardens thereto belonging. Three pews in Eccles Church and several large plots of land well adapted for the erection of first-rate villas.

There follows a detailed description of the two wings of Hope Hall and of The Rookery, with numbers and sizes of rooms, outbuildings and grounds. The estate is to be offered in the first instance in one lot, but if no such sale is made it will be offered in five separate lots.

Firstly:

…the two mansions called Hope Hall, with the gardens and pleasure grounds; comprising in the whole 21,264 square yards or thereabouts, which will be offered subject to the rents of £64 and £5 5s; with this lot will be sold the three pews in Eccles Church.…..Hope Hall is divided into and occupied as two residences. One in the occupation of William Harter, Esq., comprises on the ground floor dining room, 30ft by 20ft, library, morning room, billiard room, housekeeper’s room, servants’ hall, kitchen, larders, laundry etc. On the first floor, drawing room, 29ft 6ins. by 16ft, seven bedrooms, four of them with dressing rooms, bathroom, water-closets etc., and on the second floor four other bedrooms. The outbuildings comprise two coach houses, stabling for three horses, a loose box and harness room. The house is in excellent condition, the whole having been recently thoroughly repaired, painted and papered. These premises are in lease for a term of which eight years are unexpired.

The other portion of Hope hall is in the occupation of Wood Gibson Esq. and comprises on the ground floor, dining room 29ft 6ins by 20ft., library, billiard room and small parlour, servants’ hall, kitchens, laundry etc. On the first floor are drawing room, 29ft 6ins by 20ft., one large bedroom with two dressing rooms; three other bedrooms with dressing rooms, eight single bedrooms. Bathroom and water-closet. The outbuildings comprise a four-stalled stable, a loose box, coach house and harness room, cow-house and piggeries. Mr Gibson’s tenancy will expire at Christmas next. Belonging or reputed to belong to Hope Hall are three pews in the parish church of Eccles which will be sold therewith.

Prospective purchasers are assured that,

Each of these residences is adapted in every respect for the occupation of a gentleman’s family, is replete with conveniences of every description, has its own appropriate gardens and pleasure grounds perfectly retired and tastefully laid out, and commands most delightful views of rich and beautiful scenery.

Secondly, the much newer house built on land to the north of the Hall:

The Rookery, with the gardens and pleasure grounds comprising in the whole 6,543 square yards or thereabouts, which will be subject to a chief rent of £60 Rookery, in the occupation of William Langton, Esq. comprises on the ground floor, dining room (43ft. by 17ft 10ins.) which can be divided by folding doors, library, servants’ hall butler’s pantry, kitchens etc . On the first floor are three large bedrooms with dressing rooms; six other bedrooms, bathroom and water-closets and three bedrooms in the attic. The outbuildings comprise a three-stalled stable, coach house, loose box, harness room, piggeries, tool house etc.

Thirdly,

a Plot of Land, with a frontage to the turnpike road of 135 yards comprising 25,250 square yards or thereabouts which will be offered subject to a chief rent of £106. 4s.

Fouthly,

a Plot of Land adjoining The Rookery on the westerly side thereof, containing 5,463 square yards which will be offered subject to a chief rent of £34.

And fifthly,

a Plot of Land adjoining the last mentioned plot, on the westerly side thereof, containing 7647 square yards which will be offered subject to a chief rent of £38.10

Later 19th century changes

The Rookery was built by Richard Gould around 1844. By the time of the 1861 census it is occupied by the son of Sir Elkanah Armitage, also called Elkanah. His gardener, Moses Chappell is living at the New Lodge, probably at the entrance to the Rookery a little further west from the main two octagonal lodges.

Conservatory extension to west wing, 1878. Architect Alfred Waterhouse

By 1873 both William Harter and his wife have died, and they are replaced in the west wing of Hope Hall by Frederick William Grafton, a calico printer and Liberal politician. We know which part of the Hall Grafton lived in from the building works that he undertook in 1878. Plans with Salford City Council show that in July 1878 Grafton submitted plans to build a conservatory on the west side. His architect was Alfred Waterhouse. Sadly, there are no drawings showing the elevations.

This plan also shows that the two porches on the south and west frontages have been added by this date.

Ground floor plan of extension to Hope Hall octagonal lodge, for Frederick W Grafton, 1878
1878 Extension to original gatehouse.


In September 1878 Frederick Grafton submitted further plans to the council, this time for a significant addition to one of the original octagonal gatehouses. The extension had two storeys, with a kitchen, pantry, WC and yard. A flight of stairs from the kitchen indicates a bedroom above.

Sir Elkanah Armitage died in 1876 and a succession of shorter term tenants then occupied the south wing from time to time. His son Elkanah continued to live at The Rookery and in 1878, had plans drawn up for the addition of a billiard room and creation of a library at his house.

1878 Plans and elevation for the provision of a billiard room at the Rookery. EOR for Elkanagh ARMITAGE esq. The building already in existence is a single storey with plain square headed sash windows and flat pilasters. The plan shows a dining room, library, billiard room and a fernery to the north. The contarctor is Jno STATHAM and Sons of Pendleton. Architects stamp indeciferable
1878 Extension to add billiard room at The Rookery

Hope Hall Timeline 

1212 Two oxgangs of land held by Ellis de Pendlebury from Iorweth de Hulton, lord of Pendleton, for a rent of 4s.

1380 Richard de Radcliffe of Ordsall had a house and 60 acres of arable land in The Hope.

1561 Katherine, the widow of Sir William Radcliffe is recorded as living at Hope.

1595 William Bradshaw acquired the Hope estate with an ‘ancient house’, paying a chief rent of 2s. 6d. to the Duchy of Lancaster. 

1620 (October 11) St Mary’s parish register records the baptism of ‘Richard, son of Lawrence Bradshaw of ye Hope, gent.’.

1624 (December 22) St Mary’s register records the burial of ‘Richard, son of Lawrence Bradshaw of ye Hope, gent. (drowned)’.

1664 Ralph Bradshaw of Hope submitted his family pedigree to Sir William Dugdale during the ‘visitations’, establishing his right to a coat of arms and the title ‘gentleman’.

Bradshaw family pedigree

1667 (January) Ralph Bradshaw’s will indicates he is the same Bradshaw of Hope. It was witnessed by his friend (and probably relative), Ralph Bradshaw of Hartshill.

1696 (July 11) Inventory following death of Thomas Bradshaw of Hope, and commitment by his widow, Mary, to raise and educate their son Thomas.

1709 Manchester Midsummer Quarter Sessions ordered ‘Thomas Bradshaw of Hope Hall in Pendleton to pay unto his said mother five shillings weekly for her upkeep’.

1745-50 Daniel Bayley purchased the Hope estate and rebuilt Hope Hall in the Georgian villa style.

1761 and 1769  The transit of Venus was observed from the Hope estate by Samuel Smethurst and Peter Clare.

 1764 Death of Daniel Bayley. Thomas Butterworth Bayley inheritted Hope Hall. He lived there for the rest of life, dying in June 1802. 

1780 – 1812 Land Tax Assessment records show that the Bayley family had tenants on sizeable farmed portions of the estate, including Hope Farm. In 1799, the 20% land tax payable on the whole estate was £8 3s 10d.

1812 Edward Hobson, woollen manufacturer and clothier, purchased the Hope Estate from Daniel Bayley, son of Thomas Butterworth Bayley. 

1814 Margaret Hobson, Edward’s daughter married John Simpson of Hart Hill. Edward died in 1828, his wife Betty continued at the Hall until her death ten years later. It is possible that one Lodge was built and the house extended on its eastern side during their occupancy.

1828 (September) Death of Edward Hobson.

1838 Death of Elizabeth (Betty) Hobson. Following her death, an advert announcing the sale of her extensive collection of plants appeared in the Manchester press.

1839 Edward Hobson junior sold Hope Hall and the extensive Hope estate. Newspaper adverts announce auctions of the contents of the Hall and of his collection of wines and liquors.

1841 Census returns show that two separate households are living in the Hall, probably as tenants or lessees. One is the family of William Harter and his wife Frances Williamina, the other Richard Gould and his wife Eliza.   Both men are merchants.  

The Census also shows two separate Hope Hall farms. One is occupied by 45 year old cattle dealer Thomas Nightingale, his wife, mother, and two servants. The other is held by farmer John Goodwin with his household of eight, including four servants.

The Manchester Guardian advertises the sale of around 83 acres of the Hope estate for the building of a county house or detached villas. 

1843-1849 Charles Noyes runs his plant nursery from Hope gardens. He later sets up large nurseries on land east of Summer Hill, where the family business remains until the 1920s.

1848 OS map

1845 Ordnance survey map shows an extension to the east side of the Hall, two porches on the southern and western frontages and two lodges at the south east corner of the estate. The Rookery is built on land north of the Hall before 1848.

1850 Richard Gould moves out and is replaced by Wood Gibson, another merchant, born in Ireland.

1852 (Manchester Courier August 28) Major sale of both sections of Hope Hall, The Rookery and several plots of land on the estate for residential development. 

1857 Elkanah Armitage takes up residence in the vacant part of the Hall, whilst William Harter continues to occupy the rest. 

1858 The Post Office Directory shows that The Rookery is occupied by William Langton, a banker, and Hope Farm by John Nightingale.  

1861 Census returns show Sir Elkanah Armitage and William Harter still at the Hall, whilst Elkanah’s son, also called Elkanah, cotton spinner and manufacturer is living at The Rookery. James Roberts is in the ‘Gardener’s Lodge’,  Moses Chappell’s home is referred to as ‘New Lodge’, indicating it is a recent addition. There is also a Coach House, occupied by coachman James Topper and his family.

1871 Census returns – principal occupancy unchanged. James Roberts, gardener, is clearly shown as living in Mr Harter’s lodge, and Moses Chappell in Mr. Armitage’s lodge. Also listed are Rookery Cottage, occupied by Henry Spencley, coachman and family (probably the 1861 coach house) and Hope Hall Cottage, again occupied by coachman John Haynes and family. 

1872 (October 27) Death of William Harter. Probate values his estate at under £300,000. 

1873 (May 1) Death of Frances Williamina Harter 

1874 Frederick William Grafton MP, Liberal, Calico Printer, takes up residence at Hope Hall.

1876 (November 26) Death of Sir Elkanah Armitage. Probate values his estate at under £200,000.

1876 Sir Henry de Bathe 4th Baronet (1823-1907) (left) lived at Hope Hall for a short time around 1876-7. Sir Henry’s daughter, Cicely, died at Hope Hall in 1877, aged just 16 years. She is buried in St Mark’s churchyard, Worsley. This may have been a factor in the family leaving the hall. Possibly, Sir Henry had to leave when the Northern Command of the British Army HQ moved from Hulme barracks in Manchester to York. 

1878 (January) Plans submitted to Salford Corporation for a Lodge at The Rookery for Elkanah Armitage. This was at the far south west corner of the estate, a single storey lodge with three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, outdoor WC and yard, designed by J Hesketh of Broughton.

Plans for an extension to provide a billiard room at The Rookery for Elkanah Armitage Esq.

(July) Plans for addition of a conservatory to Hope Hall for Frederick W. Grafton Esq. by architect Alfred Waterhouse.

(September) Plans for addition to one of the two pre-1850 octagonal lodges, for Frederick W Grafton MP JP.  The extension is a two storey rear kitchen and pantry with a single chamber above, and outdoor WC and yard. 

1881 Census returns show that following the death of Sir Elkanah Armitage in 1876, Hope Hall is for a time home to a single household – that of Frederick William Grafton. We know that Grafton occupies the west wing of the hall with his wife and seven daughters aged from 11 to 29. They employ a housekeeper and 13 other servants. 

The Rookery is still home to Elkanah Armitage the younger, now 64, widowed and a county magistrate. His son and daughter (married to engineer Stewart Garnett) live with him, along with 8 servants

Hope Hall Lodge is occupied by Richard Ashworth, gardener,  and his wife Sarah. The Rookery New Lodge (1878) is home to gardener Joseph Bauser, wife Elizabeth and 6 children. Rookery Cottage houses Peter Bielby, coachman and his wife Ellen. 

Henry John Roby MP (1830-1915)

1890 Henry John Roby, (1830-1915) takes a tenancy in Hope Hall.  Liberal MP for Eccles from 1890 to 1895. Classical scholar; sewing and knitting thread manufacturer. Last listed as living at the Hall in Slater’s directory of 1896. Retired to Grasmere.  

1891 Census returns note that part of Hope Hall (listed as no. 50 Eccles Old Road) is as uninhabited. Its lodge is tenanted by a 30 year old book-keeper, Andrew Fitzpatrick, and his five adult siblings. The other half of the Hall, No. 48, is still home to Henry John Roby. Its lodge houses gardener James Firkins and his family of four.
Following the death of the younger Elkanah Armitage in 1887, The Rookery is now occupied by his daughter and her husband Stewart Garnett. The coach house accommodates coachman Stephen Pinch, his wife and 2 young daughters.

1894 William Valentine Blake McGrath (1842 -1925) Ship and Insurance Broker from Dublin is listed in Slater’s Directory as living at Hope Hall from 1894 to 1896.

1897 James Carleton Cross, cotton spinner. Listed at Hope Hall in Slater’s Directory to 1905. 

1901 On Census night at Hope Hall, four servants are in residence, presumably James Carleton Cross, being absent. The Coachman’s house is occupied by John James and his wife.

No household is listed for the other section of the Hall, though at Hope Hall Lodge, another gardener, Albert Bridge, is a boarder.  An entry for The Lodge (Hope Annexe) names a gardener George M. Paulson and his wife, Anna as occupants. It is not clear which dwelling this refers to.

At the Rookery, Stewart Garnett and his wife have five servants to support them. Joseph Bausor the gardener still occupies the Lodge and gardener, William King lives in another lodge. Coachman Isiah Griffiths, with his wife and young son occupy the coach house. In addition to the four main lodges along the south side of the estate, other cottages are referred to as lodges or coach houses.

1908 Myles Fenton Davies (1867-1928), solicitor, first listed as living at Hope Hall. Married to Ada May Hargreaves, daughter of Frank Hargreaves of Broom House. 

1911 The Census return for Hope Hall reveals that the whole property is being occupied as a single residence. The Fenton Davies family of six, together with a Governess and seven servants are living in 27 rooms (excluding bathrooms, office, lobby etc.). It is possible that they continued to live here until 1920. 

The Rookery is recorded as having 26 rooms and is occupied by Stewart Garnett, his wife and brother along with 6 servants.
Joseph Bausor the gardener is still living in the five-roomed Rookery Lodge with wife and son, now a billiards salesman. Isiah Grifiths, family of four are in the Rookery Cottage (otherwise coach house), and Mrs Elizabeth Poel and her daughter live in the three rooms of the Rookery Lodge.

1921 Hope Hall was used briefly by the Ministry of Health as its local headquarters, since when it remained vacant.

1937 (17 November) Salford Corporation purchased from the Trustees of Sir Elkanah Armitage the freehold for 15.006 acres of the Hope estate, including Hope Hall and The Rookery, for the new Hope Hall Secondary Modern School.

1939 The 1939 Register of England and Wales, drawn up at the start of World War II, shows that caretaker Samuel Gregory and his wife Mary occupied Hope Hall. Also listed were around 15 other small households of single people or couples. Seven further residential units were vacant. It appears that Salford Council was renting out accommodation in the hall on a short term basis. Hope Hall Lodge was listed as the home of Edward Roberts, Scrap Iron Dealer; Hope Hall Cottage was occupied by Aircraft Fitter, Herbert E Jefferson.

1946 (4 December) Salford Corporation purchased the freehold for 39.11 acres at Fairhope from J P Hill Ltd. for residential development of the Fairhope Estate.

1956 Demolition of the Georgian manor of Hope Hall