Tonge Hall restoration imminent

Photo: Courtesy of retired professional photographer Margaret Curry

Tonge Hall, Middleton. The surviving remnants of this late 16th century hall

Work to save and fully restore Middleton’s Tonge Hall is well on its way following a successful bid to buy the property.

The 400-year-old Tudor Hall, deemed one of the country’s most ‘at risk’ historical buildings, was damaged by fire in 2007 and has since stood derelict and unkept. But a bid by conservation bosses should ensure the building is given a new lease of life.

Peter Rowlinson, Rochdale Council’s Planning and Regulation Officer, said: “We hope to complete the purchase of Tonge Hall in the next day or so; it’s very close to being finalised.

“It has been bought for £1, plus compensation for the building’s original furniture and cost of waste disposal.”

And whilst the Grade II-listed building was purchased for a very small fee, much more money has been put into its preservation and restoration.

Peter said: “We have spent £120,000 stabilising the hall. The fire had destabilised all the original brickwork, so we’ve had to take measures to ensure the building won’t collapse. We’ve also installed a protective plastic roof, since the hall had been left open to the elements for years and was completely saturated.

This new roof has kept the weather off and allowed the building to fully dry out so further work can start, even given the wet summer we’ve had recently!”

The English Heritage have also given the council a £200,000 grant to aid the restoration process.

The purchase of Tonge Hall hasn’t been easy, with many legal complications along the way. Deeds regarding ownership of the land had been lost somewhere between an unknown owner and the original Urban District Council plans dating back to the 1870s; holding up the process.

But with its purchase now imminent, the council are now looking to the future for Tonge Hall.

Peter told us: “We’re looking to restore it for mixed residential and community use. It can’t be turned into solely a museum or community centre as we need to be sure people will keep looking after the property.

“The council’s aspiration is to perhaps have it partly converted for residential use, with a community room or area open to visitors throughout the year. Over the next few days we’ll be pressing buttons and finalising.”