Wythenshawe Hall

A pre-1300 charter mentions an enclosed deer park in Wythenshawe where the Tatton family owned land in 1297. It was defended by Royalists led by Robert Tatton until the Roundheads brought two cannons to the hall from Manchester, leading to the Royalist surrender on 27 February 1644. In 1924 Robert Henry Grenville Tatton inherited the Wythenshawe estate. There was interest from Manchester Corporation, who wanted land to build a garden suburb, ostensibly to rehouse tenants from slum clearance. By April 1926 Wythenshawe Hall and of its surrounding estate had been sold to Ernest Simon, 1st Baron Simon of Wythenshawe and Shena Simon, Lady Simon of Wythenshawe, who donated them to Manchester Corporation "to be used solely for the public good". Later that year, the corporation purchased the rest of the estate, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. The hall was added to the Heritage at Risk Register in October 2016. ==Architecture==

The hall was partially rebuilt between 1795 and 1800 by Lewis Wyatt. It was altered around 1840 possibly by Edward Blore. Additions included a walled garden, an ice house, and glass houses. In the Victorian era the dining room was refurbished and a tenant's hall was added. The timber-framed manor house has a hall with two projecting wings, and a porch and dais bays. The entrance hall (also known as the ante-room) is thought to have previously been a chapel, which was subsequently turned into a billiards room, before becoming an entrance hall in the 1870s. ==Museum==

In 1930 the hall was turned into a museum and art gallery. A friends group was established in September 2012 to hold monthly open days and regular events at the hall. Furniture installed by the friends group (including a four-poster bed engraved with the Tatton family crest) was not damaged by the fire. ==Park==

Wythenshawe Park occupies of land surrounding the hall in Northern Moor. The park contains a mix of woodland, bedding, borders, grassland and meadows, sports and games facilities, and Wythenshawe community farm and a horticulture centre North Lodge, the Grade II listed gate lodge on the park's northern boundary was built in the Tudor style in the mid to late 19th century. Facing the hall stands a bronze statue of Oliver Cromwell on a granite plinth and pedestal, sculpted by Matthew Noble in 1875. Now Grade II listed, it was moved from its original location on Deansgate to the park in 1968. ==See also==