• historic
  • adlington hall
  • capesthorne hall
  • john barrow memorial
  • john rylands library
  • leeds city museum
  • ordsall hall
  • st. peter's
  • victoria baths
• parks
• ecclesiastical
• secular
• domestic

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Client	Salford City Council
Location	Salford, Greater Manchester
Status	Grade I listed
Summary	Major repair works to the timber frame and plasterwork panels, plus refurbishment and modernisation internally including access modifications
Completion	Summer 2011
Build Value	£4m

The present Grade I listed Ordsall Hall site is the result of a complex architectural history, parts of the building having been demolished, rebuilt or added as the Hall changed hands and uses.

The east wing retains the frame of a timber framed medieval house built by Sir John Radcliffe including two rooms which represent amongst the best preserved and finest domestic apartments of their date and type in the North West. The present timber framed Great Hall was built by Alexander Radcliffe in the early sixteenth century. It is one of the largest timber medieval open halls to survive in the region and is highly decorative with quatrefoil patterning. The accommodation continued to be extended to both sides of these elements, and around 1639 the brick west wing was erected providing generous accommodation on three floors. The attic features well-preserved timber trusses and curved windbraces, and substantial areas of wattle and daub infill survive.

By the late nineteenth century the buildings were in a severely dilapidated condition and a major refurbishment of the whole building, including the total rebuilding of the south front in brick and terracotta, was executed by the Manchester architect Alfred Darbyshire. In 1959 Salford Corporation acquired the Hall and undertook further refurbishment and conversion to create a Museum. In common with other historic buildings, the twentieth century has seen inappropriate repairs which threaten the fabric of the building, particularly the timber frame.

The building works form part of a larger programme including the execution of landscape and exhibition proposals, and the conservation of historically significant decorative plaster features, paint remains and armorial stained glass panels. The construction works are due to start on site in April 2009, encompassing essential repairs to the fabric, increasing access both in terms of opening up more of the rooms to the public and providing better physical access for those with disabilities, and providing a dedicated education space to accommodate more efficiently the highly successful schools programme and the planned expanded range of educational opportunities for all ages.

Ordsall Hall is due to reopen in the summer of 2011.