Duxbury Hall | |
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Duxbury Hall as it looked in 1840
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Location within the Borough of Chorley
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General information | |
Status | Demolished |
Type | Country house |
Location | Duxbury Woods, Lancashire |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 53°37′50″N 2°37′25″W / 53.63061°N 2.62349°WCoordinates: 53°37′50″N 2°37′25″W / 53.63061°N 2.62349°W |
Opened | 1823 |
Demolished | 1956 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 2 |
Duxbury Hall was a 19th-century country house in Duxbury Park estate in Duxbury Woods, Lancashire that has been demolished.
The hall was a plain two-storey building faced in millstone grit ashlar standing in a well-wooded park 1½ miles (2.5 km) south of Chorley. The entrance on the east front was via a Doric portico. In the cellars was evidence of an earlier building, probably a brick-built house enclosing a courtyard on three sides. The later building followed the same plan, having north and south wings extending westward from the east front. The roof was of green slate
The manor of Duxbury belonged to the Duxbury family before the 1300s but, after Henry Duxbury's involvement in the abortive Banastre Rebellion in 1315 and his subsequent imprisonment in Lancaster Castle, ownership of the Duxbury land transferred to the Standish family around 1335. A Peel Tower was said to have been constructed within the area, during or after The Great Raid of 1322 when Chorley was raided by Scotland.
The first Duxbury Hall was built in 1632 in the Elizabethan style and was home to the Standish family for many decades. It is believed to be the birthplace of American Founding Father Myles Standish.
The family were Puritans and active in politics. Thomas Standish (1594-1642) was MP for Liverpool and Preston. His younger son Richard Standish (1621-1662), who inherited the estate after the death of his elder brother Alexander in 1648, was MP for Liverpool and Preston. His son Richard was created a baronet in 1677 and elected as a Whig for Wigan in 1690. His son Thomas was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1711 and died in 1746, after which the estates passed to his son, another Thomas (1703–1756).