Crompton Hall

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Crompton Hall (not to be confused with Crompton House) was an ancient dwelling for Shaw and Crompton's historic landowners - The Cromptons, and was situated on Crompton Fold (more commonly known now as Buckstones), in Crompton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England.

Crompton Hall was a huge and prominent manor in the township for hundreds of years. The hall has two known stages, the first being a medieval one, of which the manor existed at least as early as 1442 to provide for Norman conquest settlers, the second was a 19th century phase, built in c.1848 with much more splendor, and reflected the Crompton's increased affluence much due to the industrial revolution which took place in the town.

Crompton Hall was demolished in 1950, but much of its forested gardens still remain today.

1 History
- 1.1 Winston Churchill
- 1.2 Demolition
2 Post Demolition
3 References

[edit] History

The Crompton family has a well documented history. Crompton first appears as a family name when the De La Legh family (settlers from the Norman conquest) changed their name to indicate the Anglo-Saxon township they had obtained and settled in during the 13th century.

The family were prosperous landowners of the area, and collectively had private ownership of the majority of Shaw and Crompton's land from their initial medieval acquisition, right through to the early 20th century.

The Crompton family owned a large manor by the name of Crompton Hall which first appears in historical records as early as 1442 and owned by Thomas de Crompton and his family.

[edit] Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill once stayed at Crompton Hall and he had written letters describing how peaceful and tranquill the area was.^[1]

[edit] Demolition

The original medieval Crompton Hall was demolished c.1848. A second and apparently 'magnificent' Crompton Hall, set in its own prominent forested grounds, was erected by the family, but following the dissipation and eventual death of the last remaining family members, the site was sold off and the manor was demolished in 1950 to make way for an exclusive development of bungalows.

Whilst the local council attempted to buy the Grade II "Listed Building" and contents for means of preserving civic heritage, the building was not sold to them, and was somewhat hastely destroyed with the contents of the home sold off at auction to the highest bidder.

[edit] Post Demolition

Some of the original forested grounds of Crompton Hall can still be found in the Buckstones area of Shaw and Crompton today, and is a small but popular public woods. The woodland (of which many of the Common Horse-chestnut, oak, and maple trees are currently protected by a tree preservation order) are home to a number of animal species, including owls, foxes, bats, wood pigeons, hedgehogs and grey squirrels.

The legacy of the Cromptons is also still apparent today in the Shaw and Crompton area with Crompton House Church of England High School still bearing the Crompton family name (rather than the address it occupies).

The site of Crompton Hall is now one of controversy, as part of the public woods is undergoing a process of planning permission to build a number of proposed three story luxury flats. This has been met with considerable protest due to the nature of the buildings and the requirement of many trees to be felled. The "Crompton Hall Action Group" has been set up by local communities to halt any building work of this kind.