Wennington Hall

Wennington Hall is a former country house in Wennington, a village in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. The house is a Grade II listed building and from 1940 until 2022 was used as a school, at first by the Quaker boarding school Wennington School before its move to Yorkshire, then by Lancashire County Council.

1. History

In its early history, Wennington Hall was the seat of William de Wennington. and in the 14th century, it passed to the Morley family. In 1674 the hall was sold to Henry Marsden, MP for Clitheroe. It descended to Henry Marsden, who lived at the hall with his younger brother John, known as "Silly Marsden", and their aunt. Henry died in 1780 from alcoholism and John was induced by his guardian aunt and her ambitious husband to sell the hall and buy Hornby Castle, Lancashire. Wennington was bought in 1788 by the Rev Anthony Lister, who took the surname Marsden. The hall was later sold to Richard Saunders in 1841. The present building on the site, designed by Lancaster architect Edward Graham Paley, was constructed in 1855–56 for Richard's son William Allen Francis Saunders, High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1862. After him it passed to Charles Morley Saunders and later William Morley Saunders. During the Second World War it housed the Wennington School, who moved to Ingmanthorpe Hall in Yorkshire at the end of the war. From 1954 until 2022 it was occupied by Wennington Hall School, a Lancashire County Council boarding school for boys with learning or behavioural difficulties. After the school's closure the building was acquired by Bowland Inns & Hotels; in 2023 planning permission was granted for its conversion to a hotel. It is expected to open in spring 2024. Wennington Hall was designated as a Grade II listed building on 4 December 1985. The Grade II designation—the lowest of the three grades—is for buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".

1. Architecture

Wennington Hall is built of sandstone rubble. Most of the roofs are stone slate. The plan is asymmetric and there is a large crenellated tower to the rear. The front facade is gabled. The house is in two storeys, and is in Tudor Revival style. Inside the house is a staircase hall with a hammerbeam roof, and stained glass. Connected to the main building, there is a stable block that has its own crenellated tower. The main section of the building is in Tudor revival style with wooden beams going across the ceiling of the central section of the building. The main door still remains in its original form and has been treated with care, the walls of the grounds still also remain in their original forms.

1. See also

Listed buildings in Wennington, Lancashire List of works by Sharpe and Paley

1. References


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1. = Sources =

Nearby Places View Menu

Wennington railway station

Wennington is a railway station on the Bentham Line, which runs between Leeds and Morecambe via Skipton. The station, situated 15+3⁄4 miles (25 km) east of Lancaster, serves the village of Wennington in Lancashire. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

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Wennington, Lancashire

Wennington is a civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 102, and the 2011 Census recorded it as 178. The village is on the B6480, near the River Wenning and the Yorkshire border. It is administered by Wennington Parish Council. Wennington Hall is to the north.

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Wennington Junction rail crash

Just west of Wennington railway station was Wennington junction where the Furness and Midland Joint Railway left the North Western section of the Midland Railway. On 11 August 1880 the 12:15 Leeds to Lancaster train completely derailed at the junction points then continued for 166 yards (152 m) before striking the abutment of a bridge. The junction had no super-elevation as continuous crossing timbers were in use thus reducing the safe speed, and the Midland Railway were advised to correct this. But the enquiry also found the braking power of the train to be grossly inadequate; the train should have been able to stop before reaching the bridge. Only the locomotive was fitted with a Westinghouse brake and there was only one brake van on the train. Although the Midland Railway was fitting continuous brakes to its passenger trains the enquiry pointed out that such a recommendation had been made twenty years previously and the actions had still not been completed.

Landmark Train

Church of St James the Less, Tatham

The Church of St James the Less is in the village of Tatham, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Tunstall, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with those of St Wilfrid, Melling, St John the Baptist, Tunstall, St Peter, Leck, the Good Shepherd, Lowgill, and Holy Trinity, Wray, to form the benefice of East Lonsdale. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It stands above the flood plain of the River Wenning.