Below is a menu in alphabetical order of the Halls I have covered to date, please tell me if any links don’t work, and I’ll fix them:
Cheadle Moseley House (Holly Vale)
Hillbrook Grange (Higher Bank House)
Mansion House, Adlington Square, Stockport
Mansion House, High Street, Stockport
Samuel Oldknow’s House, Hillgate
Travis Hall (Lower and Upper aka Heaton Hall)
What am I doing?
I recently joined Stockport Heritage Trust Group at St Mary’s Church in Stockport. It was suggested I might like to research local halls, as nobody has yet put together a survey
What is Stockport?
For the purposes of this it covers the metropolitan borough, plus any other parts I think may be relevant to the history of Stockport (eg Poynton, Parrs Wood)
What is a Hall?
Something that is called such, eg Mauldeth Hall, a big house, for instance one of the many Highfields, anything that takes my fancy and is Victorian and prior.
No seriously what is a Hall
From Gareth Hughes on the country houses of England and Ireland
Barchester Manor
Barchester Court
Barchester Park
Barchester Grange
Barchester Place
Barchester Hall
Barchester Abbey
Barchester Castle
With the important proviso that it’s not always the case…
Barchester Manor, and probably Barchester Court, would have had their origins as the centre of the manor – an administrative land unit set up in the Middle Ages and governed by the landowner (the Lord of the Manor – not an aristocratic title but effectively a functional one) or their local representative or steward (Lords of the Manor were sometimes corporate bodies, for example Oxford or Cambridge colleges which were awarded manors in various parts of the country by their founders or benefactors, the income from the manors supporting the college). The manorial court would adjudicate on local legal matters and was often hosted, monthly or quarterly, in the manor house. The function dictates the title of the house.
Barchester Park might have started life as the farmhouse or hunting lodge at the centre of a deer park – an area set aside and enclosed in the mediaeval period for hunting. Or it could just be a pretentious title.
Barchester Grange would, historically, have been a farm owned by a monastery, but at some distance from it so that a house was needed. In later ages, calling your house “Blahblah Grange” was just a nice thing to do and sounded stylish, especially if you were middle class, or worse.
Barchester Hall or Barchester Place are vague. They could be the name given to the manor house, they could just be the biggest house in the village, there could be a combination of reasons. Place is cognate with the Welsh “Plas”, which denotes a large, often manorial, house and is thought to have similar linguistic origins to “palace”.
Barchester Abbey might be a house that started life as a monastery or convent, but was dissolved in the 1540s, sold or gifted by the king to one of his cronies, and converted into a house. From the late 18th century, it might also be a completely new house with no older history, built usually in the gothic style and pretending (not very well) to be ancient, in order to satisfy the romantic bosom-heaving naughty nuns notions of its owner.
Barchester Castle may have started as a fortress, and if it’s a ruin today it’s very likely it did but fell victim to its owner being on the wrong side during the Civil Wars of the mid seventeenth century. It might have been rebuilt afterwards and kept the name, or it might be an 18th century or later romantic house, this time built by someone who had butch chivalrous knights on his mind, not naughty nuns.
ALL of the above might have had the function of being the manor house. Or not.
And don’t get me started on “Palace”.
How am I doing it?
I can’t go to the library, so it is down to any books I have, and what I can find on the internet.
What is the timeline?
Well, Boris says we have to stay in for 12 weeks. If try to post one a day I may break the back
100 Halls, are you serious?
Well I currently have 102 contenders on my list
How long will these be?
Depends, for something where there is a lot of information , a couple of A4s, for something where we know little bar the name, perhaps a picture of where I think it was situated.
Can I help?
Yes any suggestions, information, digital copies of books, gratefully accepted, credit given.
© 2020 Allan Russell
The History of Stockport in 100 Halls 
Hi Alan, I’m loving this series of articles and finding them very interesting and informative. Are you planning an article on what was Barnes Hospital?. Thanks Andy
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Hi Andy, thanks. I’m not really planning Barnes hospital because it wasn’t a posh house, which is my criteria. I’ve covered it in Brinnington Hall and in my in depth look at Bank Hall at https://wp.me/p72UkU-DV
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Hi Allan, the Mosely Hall mentioned in the Pvesner was not the Mosely Hall you feature, but it was the other Moseley Hall that became a school and is now the site of the Village Hotel in Cheadle. The newer Mosely Hall was eventually demolished in the mid 80s.
The one you mention was shamefully not mentioned by Pvesner.
Paul
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Thanks I have amended
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Hello Allan,
I am trying to find any historical information on Woodley House and Woodley Farm, Stand Road. Just wondering if you might have any you could share with me?
Best regards, Jenny
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I have just discovered this site and am loving it! I had family living in Adswood, Heaviley, Bramhall, Cheadle, Stockport, and so on, all through the 18th and 19th centuries and am finding some mentions, Most intriguing.
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Hi Allan. Keep up the good work ! I am a Dodge descendant and have been doing genealogical research on the Dodge clan from Offerton. So Halliday House is of interest to me. And I have been working with the Dodge Family Association in USA . You may not be aware yet, but recent (a few years ago now) DNA testing has confirmed that the Dodge’s in USA that are descended from two brothers were in fact Dodges from East Coker, Somerset, and not Dodges from Stockport. Stockport Dodge DNA has indicators not present in USA Dodge DNA. The Stockport link was somewhat speculative when it was made, but reasonable at the time.. DNA evidence now shows otherwise. It doesn’t diminish the importance of Halliday Hill house/farm for Dodge descendants like myself, but does dampen the Stockport connection to USA somewhat.. In fact it somewhat heightens the importance since we may not get as much support from our USA relatives. I haven’t yet established a real connection between Somerset Dodges and Stockport Dodges (other than similar names). A Dodge family Bible was recently discovered with details dating back to the birth of a Robert Dodge in 1671; that Bible is now in the possession of 3rd cousin of mine living in Canada who is a direct descendant of the original owner of that Bible: John Stopford Dodge.
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Hi Allan, I have been researching the oldest house in Cheadle, Moseley Old Hall. You and others say that ‘Robert Sydebotham and his wife Mary leased the house in 1667. Their initials can be seen on a flagstone, which was originally on the floor of the porch and over the doorway,there is also another carving above the porch from 1663.
How do you know that the Sydebothams leased the house as no reference to this lease is added?
Thanks
Nola
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