Haigh Hall
Encyclopedia
Haigh Hall is a historic country house in Haigh
, Greater Manchester
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building. The hall, built between 1827 and 1840 by James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres
, replaced an ancient manor house
and was his family's home until 1947 when it was sold to Wigan Council. The hall is managed as a conference centre and wedding venue by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust on behalf of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
.
since the Middle Ages
. The first structure would have been a wooden construction, on or near to the site of the present hall, chosen for its naturally defensive position on the elevated site. The earliest recorded inhabitants were the Norreys who lived there in 1193. Between 1220 and 1230 the manor
was part of the Marsey fee and was sold to the Earl of Chester. The hall was home to the Bradshaighs from 1298 until 1780 when Elizabeth Dalrymple, great niece of Sir Roger Bradhaigh, inherited the estate as a result of the failure of the male line in her maternal family. She married Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres in 1787 and Haigh Hall became the seat of the Earls of Balcarres and, after 1848, the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, for several generations. The Bradshaigh and Lindsay fortunes were made from seams of cannel and coal
under the estate which were mined from before 1536. The Lindsays founded the Wigan Coal and Iron Company
which became the largest such company on the Lancashire Coalfield
.
The present hall was built between 1827 and 1840 by James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, on the site of the ancient manor house. He designed and supervised the hall's construction whilst living in a cottage in the grounds. Hard sandstone
for the facing was brought by canal from quarries at Parbold
and dressed on site using steam-driven
saws specially designed by the earl. Work started in 1827 on the north east wing, and a year later on the south-west wing which was completed by 1832. The entrance front replaced the 1720s brick building which was in use until the new south-east wing was started in 1836. It is possible the 18th-century building was refaced rather than completely rebuilt. The porch was added in 1844 in a different stone as Parbold stone was no longer available. Extensive tree planting took place on the estate to screen the house from the earl's collieries. The house was redecorated in 1873 at a cost of £80,000 for a visit of the Prince of Wales
.
During the First
and Second World Wars the hall was used to provide care for injured soldiers.
David Lindsay, 11th Earl
sold the hall and grounds to Wigan Corporation in 1947 for £18,000 and moved to the family's original home at Balcarres House in Fife
.
The hall is operated by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust
as a conference centre and is licensed for weddings.
. The south east entrance facade
is symmetrical and has 11 bays of which four project. The facade has a top cornice
and parapet
. At ground floor level is a central half glazed door and ten tall casement window
s, designed by the earl, which open from the inside and have a small upper sash. The first floor has eight tall 15-pane sash windows and above the porch, two shorter 9-pane sash windows and a central casement, while the second floor has eleven 9-pane sash windows. Over the door and adjacent windows is a Tuscan
porch
with paired column
s at each end and columns either side of the door.
The south-west garden front has seven bays with an ornamental cast iron
balcony
at first floor level. All the ironwork in the house was cast on the estate by the Haigh Foundry
. The canted
first, fifth and seventh bays are three-storeys high with casements matching the ground floor of the front entrance. The north east service wing has eight bays with three-storey canted bays at each end. There are two service entrances with round heads and fanlights with glazing bars. The rear of the house has ten bays with casement windows to the ground floor and sashed windows on the floors above.
The interior of the hall is richly decorated, particularly the ceilings. The entrance hall has a coffer
ed ceiling and palmette
frieze
and two black marble fireplaces. The stair hall is sail vaulted with a central light and the staircase has a cast iron balustrade. The first floor library has a decorated ceiling. As it expanded the library took over several rooms including the dining room, which was moved to the entrance hall.
The house was heated by hot air channelled through brass grilles in the skirting boards from seven stoves in the basement. Lighting was by means of candles, oil, naptha distilled from coal, paraffin and finally electricity. Wigan Corporation connected a gas supply in the late 19th century, which was used for cooking.
Entrance lodges were constructed around the estate and a gateway lodge dating from around 1840 was built on Wigan Lane. A stable block in red brick with yellow brick trim and Italianate tower
with a pyramid roof was built north of the hall in 1865.
(1812–1880) greatly expanded the collection which included a Gutenberg Bible
. His son, James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
, in collaboration with his father, enlarged the library and continued to do so after inheriting the titles so that it became one of the largest private collections in Britain. In 1901 he sold the collection of manuscripts (including Chinese and Japanese printed books) from the library to Mrs. E. A. Rylands
for the John Rylands Library
. The Gutenberg Bible is part of the Harry Ransom Center collection at the University of Texas at Austin
. The earl's extensive collection of philatelic
literature, the Crawford Library
, is now part of the British Library Philatelic Collections
.
in 1707. A 1750 painting attributed to Joseph Highmore
showed modifications to the layout including a "Gothic eye-catcher", the "Observatory" made entirely of cannel, on the hill crest to the east. Terraces, including a parterre
with geometrical divisions extending outwards from the hall on the hillside to the south and west, were swept away by 19th-century landscaping carried out by the 8th Earl. Today the hall has a walled garden and woodland walks in the plantations which were part of the landscaping and extensive tree planting from the mid-19th century. Pathways were laid out in the plantations to provide work during the 1860s cotton famine.
The plantations are primarily of beech
, but with a proportion of oak
, horse chestnut, sycamore
, ash and lime
. There are sweet chestnut
, scots pine
, hazel
, yew
and holly
. The park has the largest area of woodland in Greater Manchester.
The Great Haigh Sough
, a 1120 yards (1,024.1 m) tunnel to drain shallow coal pits, was driven under the estate between 1653 and 1670 by Sir Roger Bradshaigh. The estate was cut through by the southern portion of the Lancaster Canal, now part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
, in 1799. The canal is crossed by several bridges within the park. The estate is bounded to the west by the River Douglas
and to the east the boundary is New Road.
The stable block has been converted to house a reception centre, cafeteria, toilets, gift shop and craft centre. Nearby is a children's play area. A 15-inch gauge miniature railway was opened in 1986, and at weekends runs around a mile-long circuit through the woodland. The 3.5" and 5" gauge model steam railway is operated by Wigan Model Engineering Society on a 0.33 mile long track. The park is the venue for the annual "Haigh Fest" rock music festival. Tied cottage
s constructed on the estate for employees during the 1850s, including the "Gothic Cottages" on Copperas Lane, are now private dwellings.
Haigh, Greater Manchester
Haigh is a village and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is located next to the village of Aspull. The western boundary is the River Douglas which separates the township from Wigan. To the north a small brook...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building. The hall, built between 1827 and 1840 by James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres
James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford
James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford and 7th Earl of Balcarres was an Earl in the Scottish peerage.James Lindsay was born on 24 April 1783 at Balcarres, Fife to Alexander Lindsay, 23rd Earl of Crawford and inherited the title of 7th Earl of Balcarres on his father's death in 1825...
, replaced an ancient manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
and was his family's home until 1947 when it was sold to Wigan Council. The hall is managed as a conference centre and wedding venue by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust on behalf of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after its largest component town, Wigan and also includes the towns of Leigh, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield, and Hindley. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an...
.
History
There has been a manor houseManor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The first structure would have been a wooden construction, on or near to the site of the present hall, chosen for its naturally defensive position on the elevated site. The earliest recorded inhabitants were the Norreys who lived there in 1193. Between 1220 and 1230 the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
was part of the Marsey fee and was sold to the Earl of Chester. The hall was home to the Bradshaighs from 1298 until 1780 when Elizabeth Dalrymple, great niece of Sir Roger Bradhaigh, inherited the estate as a result of the failure of the male line in her maternal family. She married Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres in 1787 and Haigh Hall became the seat of the Earls of Balcarres and, after 1848, the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, for several generations. The Bradshaigh and Lindsay fortunes were made from seams of cannel and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
under the estate which were mined from before 1536. The Lindsays founded the Wigan Coal and Iron Company
Wigan Coal and Iron Company
The Wigan Coal and Iron Company was formed when collieries on the Wigan Coalfield owned by John Lancaster were acquired by Lord Lindsay, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, owner of the Haigh Colliery in 1865...
which became the largest such company on the Lancashire Coalfield
Lancashire Coalfield
The Lancashire Coalfield in north-west England was one of the most important British coalfields.-Geography and geology:The geology of the coalfield consists of the coal seams of the Upper, Middle and Lower Coal Measures, layers of sandstones, shales and coal of varying thickness, which were laid...
.
The present hall was built between 1827 and 1840 by James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, on the site of the ancient manor house. He designed and supervised the hall's construction whilst living in a cottage in the grounds. Hard sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
for the facing was brought by canal from quarries at Parbold
Parbold
Parbold is a large commuter village and civil parish in the county of Lancashire, England.-Local government:The 83 hectares of the 'urban settlement' of Parbold has a population of 2,700. This settlement forms part of the larger Parbold ward Parbold is a large commuter village and civil parish in...
and dressed on site using steam-driven
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
saws specially designed by the earl. Work started in 1827 on the north east wing, and a year later on the south-west wing which was completed by 1832. The entrance front replaced the 1720s brick building which was in use until the new south-east wing was started in 1836. It is possible the 18th-century building was refaced rather than completely rebuilt. The porch was added in 1844 in a different stone as Parbold stone was no longer available. Extensive tree planting took place on the estate to screen the house from the earl's collieries. The house was redecorated in 1873 at a cost of £80,000 for a visit of the Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
.
During the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second World Wars the hall was used to provide care for injured soldiers.
David Lindsay, 11th Earl
David Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford
David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres, KT, GBE , known as Lord Balniel from 1913 to 1940, was a British Unionist politician....
sold the hall and grounds to Wigan Corporation in 1947 for £18,000 and moved to the family's original home at Balcarres House in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
.
The hall is operated by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust
Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after its largest component town, Wigan and also includes the towns of Leigh, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield, and Hindley. The borough was formed in 1974 and is an...
as a conference centre and is licensed for weddings.
Architecture
The three-storey hall has a square plan round a central light well and is built of brick faced with sandstone ashlarAshlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
. The south east entrance facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is symmetrical and has 11 bays of which four project. The facade has a top cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
and parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
. At ground floor level is a central half glazed door and ten tall casement window
Casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a...
s, designed by the earl, which open from the inside and have a small upper sash. The first floor has eight tall 15-pane sash windows and above the porch, two shorter 9-pane sash windows and a central casement, while the second floor has eleven 9-pane sash windows. Over the door and adjacent windows is a Tuscan
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
with paired column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s at each end and columns either side of the door.
The south-west garden front has seven bays with an ornamental cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
at first floor level. All the ironwork in the house was cast on the estate by the Haigh Foundry
Haigh Foundry
The Haigh Foundry was leased in 1835 by E.Evans and T.C.Ryley in Haigh, Lancashire. It had initially been established in the Douglas Valley, in Haigh, circa 1790 by Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres and his brother Robert as an ironworks and foundry...
. The canted
Cant (architecture)
Cant is the architectural term describing part, or segment, of a facade which is at an angle to another part of the same facade. The angle breaking the facade is less than a right angle thus enabling a canted facade to be viewed as, and remain, one composition.Canted facades are a typical of, but...
first, fifth and seventh bays are three-storeys high with casements matching the ground floor of the front entrance. The north east service wing has eight bays with three-storey canted bays at each end. There are two service entrances with round heads and fanlights with glazing bars. The rear of the house has ten bays with casement windows to the ground floor and sashed windows on the floors above.
The interior of the hall is richly decorated, particularly the ceilings. The entrance hall has a coffer
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
ed ceiling and palmette
Palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...
frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
and two black marble fireplaces. The stair hall is sail vaulted with a central light and the staircase has a cast iron balustrade. The first floor library has a decorated ceiling. As it expanded the library took over several rooms including the dining room, which was moved to the entrance hall.
The house was heated by hot air channelled through brass grilles in the skirting boards from seven stoves in the basement. Lighting was by means of candles, oil, naptha distilled from coal, paraffin and finally electricity. Wigan Corporation connected a gas supply in the late 19th century, which was used for cooking.
Entrance lodges were constructed around the estate and a gateway lodge dating from around 1840 was built on Wigan Lane. A stable block in red brick with yellow brick trim and Italianate tower
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
with a pyramid roof was built north of the hall in 1865.
Bibliotheca Lindesiana
Housed on the first floor of the hall was the Lindsay family's library, the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, whose origins may go back to the late 16th century at Balcarres in Fife. Alexander Lindsay, 8th Earl of BalcarresAlexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford
Alexander William Crawford Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford, 8th Earl of Balcarres , was a Scottish peer, art historian and collector. He was also known as Lord Lindsay....
(1812–1880) greatly expanded the collection which included a Gutenberg Bible
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with a movable type printing press, and marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of the printed book. Widely praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities, the book has an iconic status...
. His son, James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres was a British astronomer, politician, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason.-Family:The Earl was the...
, in collaboration with his father, enlarged the library and continued to do so after inheriting the titles so that it became one of the largest private collections in Britain. In 1901 he sold the collection of manuscripts (including Chinese and Japanese printed books) from the library to Mrs. E. A. Rylands
Enriqueta Augustina Rylands
Enriqueta Augustina Rylands was the founder of the John Rylands Library, Manchester.Born in Havana, Cuba, she was one of five children including José Esteban , Blanca Catalina and Leocadia Fernanda...
for the John Rylands Library
John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Library is a Victorian Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Mrs Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her late husband, John Rylands...
. The Gutenberg Bible is part of the Harry Ransom Center collection at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. The earl's extensive collection of philatelic
Philately
Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...
literature, the Crawford Library
Crawford Library
The Crawford Library is a library of early books about philately formed between 1898 and 1913 by James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford. By the time of his death in 1913, Crawford was thought to have amassed the greatest philatelic library of his time...
, is now part of the British Library Philatelic Collections
British Library Philatelic Collections
The British Library Philatelic Collections is the national philatelic collection of the United Kingdom with over 8 million items from around the world. It was established in 1891 as part of the British Museum Library, later to become the British Library, with the collection of Thomas Tapling...
.
Gardens
Formal gardens established at the old hall in the early 18th century were illustrated in engravings by Knyff and KipJan Kip and Leonard Knyff
The inexorably linked careers of Jan Kip and Leonard Knyff trace a specialty of engraved views of English country houses, represented in minute detail from the bird's-eye view that was a long-established pictorial convention for topography...
in 1707. A 1750 painting attributed to Joseph Highmore
Joseph Highmore
Joseph Highmore was an English portrait and historical painter, illustrator and author.-Life:Highmore was born in London, the third son of Edward Highmore, a coal merchant, and nephew of Thomas Highmore, Serjeant Painter to William III. He displayed early ability but was discouraged by his family...
showed modifications to the layout including a "Gothic eye-catcher", the "Observatory" made entirely of cannel, on the hill crest to the east. Terraces, including a parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
with geometrical divisions extending outwards from the hall on the hillside to the south and west, were swept away by 19th-century landscaping carried out by the 8th Earl. Today the hall has a walled garden and woodland walks in the plantations which were part of the landscaping and extensive tree planting from the mid-19th century. Pathways were laid out in the plantations to provide work during the 1860s cotton famine.
The plantations are primarily of beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, but with a proportion of oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, horse chestnut, sycamore
Sycamore
Sycamore is a name which is applied at various times and places to three very different types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms....
, ash and lime
Lime (fruit)
Lime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
. There are sweet chestnut
Sweet Chestnut
Castanea sativa is a species of the flowering plant family Fagaceae, the tree and its edible seeds are referred to by several common names such Sweet Chestnut or Marron. Originally native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, it is now widely dispersed throughout Europe and parts of Asia, such as...
, scots pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
, hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
, yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
and holly
Holly
Ilex) is a genus of 400 to 600 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. The species are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, and climbers from tropics to temperate zones world wide....
. The park has the largest area of woodland in Greater Manchester.
Haigh Country Park
Parkland surrounding the hall now forms the Haigh Country Park and the Haigh Hall Golf Club. Although in the 1790s the park encompassed an area of 500 acres (202.3 ha), the area today is around 250 acres (101.2 ha).The Great Haigh Sough
Great Haigh Sough
The Great Haigh Sough is a tunnel or adit driven under Sir Roger Bradshaigh's estate in Haigh, then in the historic county of Lancashire. Coal had been dug on the estate since Tudor times. The sough drained Bradshaigh's coal pits, which produced coal and cannel, and extended the life of the shallow...
, a 1120 yards (1,024.1 m) tunnel to drain shallow coal pits, was driven under the estate between 1653 and 1670 by Sir Roger Bradshaigh. The estate was cut through by the southern portion of the Lancaster Canal, now part of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
, in 1799. The canal is crossed by several bridges within the park. The estate is bounded to the west by the River Douglas
River Douglas
The River Douglas, also known as the River Asland or Astland, is a river that flows through Lancashire and Greater Manchester in the north-west of England...
and to the east the boundary is New Road.
The stable block has been converted to house a reception centre, cafeteria, toilets, gift shop and craft centre. Nearby is a children's play area. A 15-inch gauge miniature railway was opened in 1986, and at weekends runs around a mile-long circuit through the woodland. The 3.5" and 5" gauge model steam railway is operated by Wigan Model Engineering Society on a 0.33 mile long track. The park is the venue for the annual "Haigh Fest" rock music festival. Tied cottage
Tied cottage
A tied cottage is a dwelling house typically owned by an employer that is only rented out to their employees, If the resident leave their job for any reason then they must move out of the house. Thus the employee is tied to that employer...
s constructed on the estate for employees during the 1850s, including the "Gothic Cottages" on Copperas Lane, are now private dwellings.
External links
- Ancestral Lindsay Estate, Haigh Hall & Manor.