Mere Hall

Mere Hall is a mansion built in 1837 for Benjamin Dobson, an engineer, and later converted into a museum in 1890. The building is constructed of brick with stone dressings and features hipped slate roofs. It has two storeys and the entrance front displays a three-window range, with coupled Doric columns supporting a portico porch and sidelights flanking the doorway. Each side of the doorway has 20-pane floor-length sash windows, while the upper windows are blind.

To the left, there is a lower wing that is likely a later addition, featuring two tripartite sash windows on the first floor and a single 12-pane sash window below. The parallel rear range also has a three-window layout, with blind upper windows and sashes below. A slightly recessed two-window range is located to the right, linked to a separate wing that has tripartite sash windows on both floors; this wing may have been extended to the rear for service accommodation in the late 19th century.

The garden front has a five-window range with a central full-height bow window featuring floor-length sashes, while the upper windows are blind. The principal elevations are adorned with full-height angle pilasters and stone string courses. The interior has not been inspected. The house was bequeathed to the town of Bolton in 1890 by its then owner, J.P. Thomasson, and was adapted for museum use, which led to its current form, including the blocking of the upper windows.