Waddington Old Hall

Waddington Old Hall stands behind ornate wrought iron gates in the famously pretty village of Waddington and has a long history entwined with Lancashire and the ancient family names who shaped the county.

The oldest parts of the hall date from the 11th century and from the 1300’s the hall was the seat of the Tempest family who inherited the lordship of Waddington through the marriage of Roger Tempest to Alice Waddington, heiress and daughter of Walter de Waddington.

King Henry’s Escape

In 1465 in the time of the War of the Roses, Richard Tempest, a Lancastrian supporter, was hosting King Henry the 6th after his defeat at the Battle of Hexham, Richard’s brother John Tempest was a Yorkist however and was informed of this treachery by a gentleman called William Cantlow, known as the ‘Black Monk of Abyngtone’.

With the aid of a band of men from the Talbot family in nearby Bashall, they raided the hall with the intention of arresting King Henry, Henry escaped though, climbing through a mullioned window which still exists, and running across fields and down to the ‘hippings’ or stepping stones at Brungerley where he was caught crossing the river. After spending the night in Clitheroe Castle he was taken to trial at The Tower of London.

The hall was used as a farmhouse from the 1600’s and became increasingly delapidated until 1901 when it was renovated by John Waddington with proceeds from his investments in South African gold mines, he had an inscription put above the gates which reads; “I will raise up his ruins, I will build as in the days of old”.

A B -H