Introduction
Hindley Park has a hall with grounds, large lakes and extensive parkland intersected by Ladies Lane (later Hall Lane). There is a long access drive through a wooded area from Hall Road. Features include a ha-ha to the east and south of the pleasure grounds. The site remains extant. Much of the parkland is now a golf course and the hall is used as the club house. The area around America Woods and Borsdan Woods is now a public park.
The parkland can be divided into three main areas:
To the south there is a major open area with small plantations and a pond bounded by thickly planted belts including the substantial Icehouse Wood in which there is an icehouse. The lack of field boundaries in this area suggests that it could be the oldest part of the parkland.
To the north and west of the hall the main features are the two large lakes with a connecting waterfall at the narrowest point, crossed by a footbridge. Field boundaries are still clear in this part of the park. The Bank House Brook is the western boundary of the park and there is a thick boundary belt.
To the east across the road is the final area of park and the America Wood. Again, the older field boundaries are clear. The streams which form the eastern boundary on this side are eventually fed into a mill race to Hindley cotton mill, just beyond the south-east boundary. By the late-19th century the parkland was much reduced and confined to the western side of the lane. The area around the estate was increasingly intersected by a developing rail network linking mineral workings to the main railway to the south.
- Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts
- History
Hindley Park has existed since the Norman Conquest and passed down through the de Hindley family although there have been other owners. The estate was purchased in 1721 by Alexander Leigh. It then passed down to his son, Holt Leigh and then to Sir Robert Holt Leigh on Holt Leigh's death in 1785. The old hall was demolished and rebuilt in 1811 to Holt Leigh's own design.
The Hall was approached by a long drive from Hall Lane. Built to the east and south of the Hall was a ha ha which also enclosed a large lily pond. An icehouse, constructed at the same time, still exists in woods some 200 yards from the Hall although it is in a dilapidated condition.
Robert Holt Leigh was MP for Wigan and in 1815 was elevated to Baron Whitley of Wigan. When he died in 1843 the estate passed to his cousin Thomas Pemberton (also Baron Kingsdown) with an interest to his adopted son, Roger Leigh. As a condition of the will the beneficiaries had to take the name of Leigh.
Around 1855 the Hall was leased to John Lancaster who built iron foundries at nearby Kirkless Hall and eventually joined forced with the Earl Crawford and Balcarres of Haigh Hall to form Wigan Iron and Coal Co. Ltd, the largest employer in the area.
In 1905 a golf club was founded at Hindley Hall for the benefit of senior management and guests of the company but during the Great Depression of the 1930s membership was opened up to others.
Around 1982 the Hall and grounds where purchased by the membership from Sir Robin Leigh Pemberton (later Baron Kingsdown of Pemberton) who became the Governor of the Bank of England.
The ha-ha to the south has long gone along with the lily pond and this area now serves as the 18th green. The two lakes to the north of the Hall now form one large lake known as The Mere. On the 9th June, 1966 the Hall was granted Grade 2 listed status.
- Features & Designations
Features
- House (featured building)
- Description: Hindley Hall had been thought to date from 1767, but archive papers referring to the building works under Sir Robert Holt Leigh indicate a date of 1811 is more likely. The house has seven bays and three storeys.
- Earliest Date:
- Latest Date:
- Ha-ha
- Description: There is a ha-ha to the east and south of the pleasure grounds.
- Pond
- Plantation
- Tree Belt
- Icehouse
- Lake
- Description: To the north and west of the hall the main features are the two large lakes with a connecting waterfall.
- Waterfall
- Stream
- Description: The streams which form the eastern boundary are eventually fed into a mill race to Hindley cotton mill.
- Key Information
Type
Park
Purpose
Recreational/sport
Principal Building
Commercial
Survival
Extant
Hectares
74
Open to the public
Yes
Electoral Ward
Hindley
- References
References
- University of Manchester and University of York, {A Survey of Historic Parks and Gardens in Greater Manchester}, York, 1994 A Survey of Historic Parks and Gardens in Greater Manchester
Contributors
Lancashire Gardens Trust
Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit
Mike Topping