Excavation of Balderstone Hall starts

Excavation of a historic hall in Rochdale, that has origins stretching back to 1414, started this morning.

The University of Salford’s archaeology department is excavating the cellars of Balderstone Hall, which was demolished in 1967.

The earliest reference to the Hall can be found in the 15th Century when James Holt married the daughter and heiress of Henry de Balderston and the couple are said to have had ‘a house of some pretensions’ in Balderstone. The Hall was first officially recorded in the early 17th Century, still in the hands of the Holt family.

Subsequently however, it changed ownership and was modified several times before being acquired by local mill owner Joshua Radcliffe in1851, who rebuilt it a year later.

It is this phase of development that the excavations will focus on.

The Hall built in 1852 by Radcliffe was a substantial residence with 15 rooms, a billiard room, cellars, stables and a saddleroom, together with a coachman’s cottage, greenhouse, fernery and peach house.

The project is part of Dig Greater Manchester, which will involve over 9,000 people taking part in archaeological projects over four-and-a-half years in 11 boroughs in the region. It is being funded by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities and managed by the University of Salford.

The dig runs between the 3 and 15 June 2013.