Morley'S Hall

Morley's Hall is a Grade II* listed building located on Morley's Lane in Tyldesley. It consists of two houses that are mainly from the 19th century but incorporate some timber-framing from the 16th and 17th centuries. The structure is made of brick with a slate and graduated stone slate roof, forming a U-shaped range of various builds and dates.

The front of the building features four bays with wings that project on either side. The left-hand house is the later addition, constructed with Flemish bond brick. It has a symmetrical front with a central door that includes a fanlight and impost capitals, flanked by two 3-light transomed casement windows with flat brick arches and stone sills on each floor. The house also has gable chimney stacks, and the bay to its left features an unusually wide cambered brick arch over a window.

The right-hand house contains the earlier work and has a lower and steeper roof, built in English garden wall bond brick. There is earlier stone walling at the rear and in the gable of the wing. A door at the angle is flanked on the left by a 3-light window, similar to those on the left-hand house, with cambered brick arches on each floor. The wing also has a similar door and windows. The rear of the building, which is partly pebble-dashed, includes various casement windows and ridge chimney stacks.

Inside, much of the timber-framing and floor beams with double-stepped stops are still visible. Posts in the fourth bay rise to support two heavily moulded cambered tie-beam roof trusses, one of which features a carved rosette on the underside. Both trusses originally had arch braces, which were removed when a floor was inserted, indicating the former presence of an open hall.

Historically, Morley's Hall was a moated site and the home of the Tyldesley family. It later served as a meeting place for recusants and was the residence of Ambrose Barlow in 1641.