Abney Hall

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Abney Hall

The north face of Abney Hall
Abney Hall (Greater Manchester)
Abney Hall
Shown within Greater Manchester
Building information
Town Cheadle, Greater Manchester
Country England
Coordinates 53°23′58″N 2°12′41″W / 53.399493, -2.211258Coordinates: 53°23′58″N 2°12′41″W / 53.399493, -2.211258
Construction start date 1842
Completion date 1847
Style Victorian

Abney Hall is a small early Victorian manor house and park in Cheadle, in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England (grid reference SJ85958923). The hall dates back to 1847 and is a Grade II* listed building.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

The foundations of the Hall were laid in 1842[2] on the site of 'Cheadle Grove Print Works', which was built in 1760 and later burnt down; it was completed in 1847 and underwent extensions in the 1850s and later in the 1890s. It was originally called 'The Grove' after the old print works and was the home of a former Stockport mayor, Alfred Orell, who subsequently died in the year of its completion. Abney was then sold to Mr. James Watts (later Sir James Watts) who rebuilt the upper storey and added two short wings sometime in the early 1850s. He was also responsible for renaming it 'Abney Hall' after, in the words of his son, "Sir Thomas Abney who entertained Sir Isaac Watts for thirty years".[2]

In 1912, a valuation and inventory was taken for insurance reasons. The task was completed by Waring & Gillow Ltd. who valued the contents of Abney Hall and Buckley Hall (a detached stone and lime building within the grounds that was demolished in 1963) at £13,150 5s 0d.[2]

[edit] Late history

Abney Hall was sold 1958 for £14,000 to Cheadle and Gatley Urban District Council who adapted it and opened it as the new Cheadle Town Hall in 1959. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council then took it over in 1974 and moved all the historical pieces from the Hall to museums. Various parts of the grounds were sold off until there is only the present amount of land which is only one 10th of the original area.[3] The Hall is now used as offices, though the grounds are open to the public all year round.

Wetlands in the grounds of Abney Hall
Wetlands in the grounds of Abney Hall

[edit] Grounds

The park was originally part of the Mersey flood plain, and much of the land is still very damp. This land has now formed wet meadows, which are becoming increasingly rare in Stockport as land is drained for development. Abney Hall is one of the few places in Stockport to feature such wetlands.

[edit] Agatha Christie

The last private owner of Abney Hall, another James Watts, was Agatha Christie's brother-in-law. Christie often visited the Hall and wrote two stories from there: the novel After the Funeral and the short story The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding[3], which is part of a collection of short stories of the same name. The Hall was also used as a basis for Chimneys, a country house and seat of the fictional Marquesses of Caterham, in The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery. Many references to various places around Cheadle can be found in her books.[4] Vanessa Wagstaff writes, "Abney became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all the servants and grandeur which have been woven into her plots. The descriptions of the fictional Styles, Chimneys, Stoneygates and the other houses in her stories are mostly Abney in various forms."[5]

[edit] Visitors

Abney Hall has had numerous famous visitors, they are listed below:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Abney Hall. Images of England. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Thompson, Basil Luis (April 1972). The Town Hall, Cheadle. B. L. Thompson, Esq.. 
  3. ^ a b c Abney Hall Park. Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.
  4. ^ Abney Hall Page. Chealde-Cheshire.net.
  5. ^ Wagstaff, Vanessa; Stephen Poole (2004). Agatha Christie: A Readers Companion, 14. ISBN 1 84513 015 4. 

[edit] External links