Scarisbrick Hall
| Scarisbrick Hall | |
|---|---|
 |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Location |
Scarisbrick, Lancashire England |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | A. W. N. Pugin, E. W. Pugin |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name | Scarisbrick Hall at 392 127 |
| Designated | 26 April 1963 |
| Reference no. | 1038565 (Hall) |
| Official name | Moated site of Scarisbrick Hall. |
| Designated | 12 Nov 1991 |
| Reference no. | 1011997 |
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Listed Building – Grade II
|
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| Official name | Scarisbrick Hall |
| Designated | 1 April 1986 |
| Reference no. | 1000951 (Park and Gardens) |
Scarisbrick Hall is a country house situated just to the south-east of the village of Scarisbrick in Lancashire, England.
Scarisbrick Hall was the ancestral home of the Scarisbrick family and dates back to the time of King Stephen (1135–1154). The Scarisbrick family lived on the site from 1238 until the house was sold in 1946 to become a training college. Parts of the present building, which is considered to be one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in England, were designed by the architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. The most notable feature of Scarisbrick Hall is the 100-foot tower, which is visible from many miles around.
Ann Scarisbrick Eccleston (Lady Hunloke) inherited the Scarisbrick estate – previously owned by Sir Thomas Scarisbrick, 1st Baronet – from her brother Charles in 1860 at the age of 72. At about this time she assumed by Royal Licence the surname Scarisbrick, and was thereafter known as Lady Scarisbrick. She had earlier fought a long legal battle with Charles, after the death of their elder brother Thomas Scarisbrick in 1835, over the inheritance claim to the Scarisbrick estate. She lost the case to Charles after five long years of litigation. Ann was known to be a woman of great character and resolve and is credited for the extensive enhancement and restoration of the Scarisbrick Hall in the lavish Gothic style, employing E. W. Pugin as the architect.
Ann Scarisbrick, born in 1788, was a great beauty in her youth. In 1807 she married Sir Thomas Windsor Hunloke (1773–1816), of Wingerworth Hall Derbyshire, who was 15 years her senior. Her husband died nine years after their marriage. They had two children, a son and a daughter. After the death of her husband she went to live with her daughter Eliza, who was married to the Marquis de Casteja, in Paris. It was only in June 1861 that she returned to Scarisbrick and made Scarisbrick Hall her home for the rest of her life.
When she returned to Scarisbrick Hall in 1861, she did so with great pomp and style. She threw a lavish meal of roasted sheep and oxen, beer and bread to more than 1000 Scarisbrick tenants. Upon her arrival, most of Ormskirk turned out ringing bells and waving flags. Her carriage was accompanied with a band on her way to Scarisbrick Hall.
Ann, unlike her brother, lived in much splendour at Scarisbrick Hall. During her occupation, the hall was gas-lit for the first time. The central heating system seems to have been installed and used during her period of occupation. Ann was popular as a society hostess and held many gala events at her residence and estate. Even though Ann, under the terms of her brother's will, had only inherited Scarisbrick Hall and not its furnishings she set out to redecorate and redesign the house on a much grander scale than had prevailed in the time of her predecessor.
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