Let’s take a look back at one of Worsley’s forgotten regal residences, through archival collections from Salford University and Peel Holdings LTD.
New Worsley Hall was a Gothic-style Mansion built for 1st Earl of Ellesmere between 1840 and 1845. Designed by Architect, Edward Blore (1787-1879) the Elizabethan manor was situated on what is now the RHS Garden Bridgewater site.
Built on the grounds of the Old Worsley Hall (dated around 1600), the home was the original homestead from the Worsley estate.
After the original owner, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, Sir Francis Egerton (1736-1803) died, the Hall was passed to a Trust, before being inherited by Sir Francis Leveson-Gower.
Featuring exquisite gardens and a Gardener’s Cottage both the building’s exterior and interior attracted high calibre clientele. Queen Victoria stayed at the Hall in both 1853 and 1857, with King Edward VII visiting in 1909.
Later, in 1914, The 4th Earl, John Francis Egerton lends the New Hall to the British Red Cross Society as a hospital for injured soldiers for the duration World War One. After the War, the 4th Earl sold the Hall to Bridgewater Estates LTD for the equivalent of £3,300,000.
Used as a training camp for The Lancashire Fusiliers and 45th County of Lancaster Home Guard, fire damages to the upper floors led the building to be sold for demolition in 1943.
The gardens were renovated by the Royal Horticultural Society and became RHS Garden Bridgewater in 2021.
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