Chorley Old Hall

Chorley Old Hall is a sub-manor house dating back to approximately 1330, originally built for the de Chorley family. A timber-framed section was added around 1560 for the Davenport family, and further refenestration and interior alterations occurred around 1640 for Thomas Stanley. Later repairs were undertaken in the 18th century, with major renovations in 1915 and 1975. The building has an L-shaped plan.

The south range is constructed from coursed buff sandstone rubble, with some later ashlar and brick in the right gable. It features a Kerridge stone-slate roof and a stone chimney. The north front presents a 2-storey, 3-bay facade, with each bay gabled. The left bay has a 4-light, rebated ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed window on the ground floor, and a larger 5-light window above with a flat moulded hood. The gable displays close studding timberwork with a middle rail. The central bay contains an original moulded, rebated, 2-centred arched doorcase leading to a screens passage, accompanied by a heavy studded 6-board oak door with long iron strap hinges. A similar 5-light window sits above the doorcase. The right bay features a 6-light mullioned and transomed window on the ground floor, with a central king mullion, and a standard 5-light window above. Herringboning is visible in the gable. Rainheads dated 1915 are also present. The rear of the south range includes a similar door to the screens passage, a 3-light hollow chamfered stone mullioned window to the buttery, and an original double rebated 2-light mullion under a label mould to the hall. Early brickwork dating possibly to the 16th century is visible in the gable.

The west range has timber framing with decorative panels, set upon a stone plinth. It also has a Kerridge stone-slate roof, a stone ridge, and a massive lateral stone chimney. The east front is 2-storey and 2 bays wide, with a central gable. There are 5-light ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed windows to the left, and a door with a similar 3-light window above to the right. A chevron pattern is incorporated into the ground-storey timber framing. A projecting moulded beam is at the first floor level. Roundels and a cross motif adorn the panels of the first storey, and the main timbers in the gable are diagonal.

Inside the south range, the screens passage has an arcade with 4, 2-centred arched doorways leading to service rooms and the kitchen passage. Speere posts are visible in the screens passage but are now filled in with 17th-century timber framing and wattle and daub. The buttery retains remains of a spiral stone staircase leading to the solar, and the existing wooden stair has some mid-17th-century turned balusters. The solar has a squint window into the hall, and high cruck roof timbers spring from carved stone corbels. A floor was inserted in the hall around 1640, and a substantial stone fireplace is now concealed by a later brick example. The east range has wainscotting, 6-panelled doors dating from around 1640, and a 1913 repaired Jacobean-style overmantle. Two Elizabethan stone fireplaces are located upstairs. The building remains within its moat, distinguishing it from other Cheshire examples that have been significantly altered by later additions.