Little Moreton Hall - History

History

The name Moreton probably derives from the Old English mor meaning "marshland" and tune, meaning "farm", thus literally "a farm at a marsh". The area where Little Moreton Hall stands today was named Little Moreton to distinguish it from the nearby township of Moreton-cum-Alcumlow, or Greater Moreton. The Moreton family's roots in Little Moreton can be traced to the marriage in 1216 of Lettice de Moreton to Sir Gralam de Lostock, who inherited land there; succeeding generations of the de Lostocks adopted the name of de Moreton. Gralam de Lostock's grandson, Gralam de Moreton, acquired valuable land from his marriages to Alice de Lymme and then Margery de Kingsley. Another grandson, John de Moreton, married heiress Margaret de Macclesfield in 1329, adding further to the estate. The family also purchased land cheaply after the Black Death epidemic of 1348. Four generations after John de Moreton, the family owned sixteen messuages, a mill and 700 acres (280 ha) of land, comprising 560 acres of ploughland, 80 acres of pasture, 20 acres of meadow, 20 acres of wood and 20 acres of moss. The Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-16th century provided further opportunities for the Moretons to add to their estate, and by the early years of Elizabeth I's reign, William Moreton II owned two water mills and 1,360 acres (550 ha) of land valued at £24 7s 4d, including 500 acres of ploughland, 500 acres of pasture and 100 acres of turbary.

Little Moreton Hall first appears in the historical record in 1271, but the present building dates from the early 16th century. The north range is the earliest part of the house. Built between 1504 and 1508 for William Moreton (died 1526), it comprises the Great Hall and the northern part of the east wing. A service wing to the west, built at the same time but subsequently replaced, gave the early house an H-shaped floor plan. The east range was extended to the south in about 1508 to provide additional living quarters, as well as housing the Chapel and the Withdrawing Room. In 1546 William Moreton's son, also called William (c. 1510–63), replaced the original west wing with a new range housing service rooms on the ground floor as well as a porch, gallery, and three interconnected rooms on the first floor, one of which had access to a garderobe. In 1559 William had a new floor inserted at gallery level in the Great Hall, and added the two large bay windows looking onto the courtyard, built so close to each other that their roofs abut one another. The south wing was added in about 1560–62 by William Moreton II's son John (1541–98). It includes the Gatehouse and a third storey containing a 68-foot (21 m) Long Gallery, which appears to have been an afterthought added on after construction work had begun. A small kitchen and Brew-house block was added to the south wing in about 1610, the last major extension to the house.

The fortunes of the Moreton family declined during the English Civil War. As supporters of the Royalist cause, they found themselves isolated in a community of Parliamentarians. Little Moreton Hall was requisitioned by the Parliamentarians in 1643 and used to billet Parliamentary soldiers. The family successfully petitioned for its restitution, and survived the Civil War with their ownership of Little Moreton Hall intact, but financially they were crippled. They tried to sell the entire estate, but could only dispose of several parcels of land. William Moreton died in 1654 leaving debts of £3,000–£4,000 (equivalent to about £12 million to £16 million as of 2010), which forced his heirs to remortgage what remained of the estate. The family's fortunes never fully recovered, and by the late 1670s they no longer lived in Little Moreton Hall, renting it out instead to a series of tenant farmers. The Dale family took over the tenancy in 1841, and were still in residence more than 100 years later. By 1847 most of the house was unoccupied, and the deconsecrated Chapel was being used as a coal cellar and storeroom. Little Moreton Hall was in a ruinous condition; its windows were boarded up and its roof was rotten.

During the 19th century Little Moreton Hall became "an object of romantic interest" among artists; Amelia Edwards used the house as a setting for her 1880 novel Lord Brackenbury. Elizabeth Moreton, an Anglican nun, inherited the almost derelict house following the death of her sister Annabella in 1892. She restored and refurnished the Chapel, and may have been responsible for the insertion of steel rods to stabilise the structure of the Long Gallery. In 1912 she bequeathed the house to a cousin, Charles Abraham, Bishop of Derby, stipulating that it must never be sold. Abraham opened up Little Moreton Hall to visitors, charging an entrance fee of 6d (equivalent to about £8 as of 2010) collected by the Dales, who conducted guided tours of the house in return.

Abraham carried on the preservation effort begun by Elizabeth Moreton until he and his son transferred ownership to the National Trust in 1938. The Dale family continued to farm the estate until 1945, and acted as caretakers for the National Trust until 1955. The Trust has carried out extensive repair and restoration work, including re-roofing; restoration of elements of the hall's original appearance, and removal of some painted patterning added during earlier restoration work. The familiar black-and-white colour scheme is a fashion introduced by the Victorians; originally the oak beams would have been untreated and left to age naturally to a silver colour, and the rendered infill painted ochre. The last major restoration work on the house was carried out in 1990–92, and replacement timbers have been left in their natural state.