The History of Old Hall

Dating back to Medieval times, the Old Hall offers a unique opportunity to explore early life at Tatton. The surrounding land is marked by mysterious humps and hollows - indicating where the disappeared village of Tatton once stood. 

It is not clear who originally built the Manor House with its atmospheric Great Hall featuring carved embellishments of fern leaves, artichokes and rosettes. By 1598 Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor of England, added a new wing to the building, complete with servants' and master's bedchambers. In the 1770s the Egerton family decided to build a new Hall (on the site of the present neo-classical Mansion) and so the original building continued  as a farmhouse, and later as cottages for estate workers. Visitors to the Old Hall can move freely amongst the different living spaces, each one preserving life from a particular era - Tudor, Elizabethan, Victorian - right up to the 1950s during the last year of Egerton ownership. 

Cruck Barn

The Cruck Barn at Old Hall with its rustic symmetry is a rare example of 15th and 16th century architecture - constructed from a series of paired timbers called crucks, each forming a shape like the letter A. Old maps of the Tatton estate show that a cruck barn was originally built here and in 1976 there was the opportunity to bring a dilapidated and crumbling cruck barn back to the site, where it was lovingly restored.

The cruck barn plays an informative part of any visit to the Old Hall. It is used for school education days as an example of a timber-framed building, offering children the chance to thresh, winnow and grind as people would have done in Medieval and Tudor times. 

Phrases and Sayings

Have you ever wondered why people crook their little fingers when drinking tea or have you ever eavesdropped? Who was little Miss Muffet and just what is a tuffet? What is the connection between the Egertons, once owners of Tatton Park and the grinning Cheshire Cat? A trip to the Old Hall unearths the meaning behind some of these commonplace phrases and sayings.

Here is a quick preview of some of these fascinating facts - to share with your family and friends.