Bradley Hall

From Standish Wiki

There has been a building on this site since the 12th. Century and the Bradley Estate can be traced back to the ownership of the Duxbury branch of the Standish Family. The oldest part of the present Hall, which currently has Grade II* listed status, dates back to Tudor times, but it was rebuilt about 1820. At this time, the Hall had a moat and a secret passage originally for the easy escape of priests. The estate was purchased by the Rev. C. W. N. Hutton from the Lancaster Banking Co. Ltd. in 1897 and the Hall was leased to the Appleton family in 1906.

In December 1939, the estate, including Douglas Mill, a farm and a bakery, was compulsorily purchased by the Ministry of Defence, who were responsible for the construction of many of the units which exist today, for use as a munitions factory. The sale document records that the purpose of the Hall was for: "persons of superior quality to congregate in"! Throughout the war the Hall was used as the residence of the Commandant (Major Healey) and as a guest house.

After the war, H.J.Heinz purchased the estate and the Hall was allowed to generally deteriorate, so that extensive renovation was required when it was purchased in 1980 by the Ainscough Family for use as a pub/restaurant. In its hey-day, during 1983-84, the Bradley Hall Pub was a magnet for fun-loving people and the disco there was widely acclaimed. It was sold to Tetley’s at the end of ’84, and they continued to run it as a pub, with a succession of managers, despite strong competition from Henri Afrika’s. However, patronage dwindled, and the Hall was resold to the Ainscoughs in the early 90s.

Since April 1993 it has been the Head Office for Ainscough Crane Hire Ltd..