Heskin Hall

Heskin Hall
Location	Heskin, Lancashire, England
Coordinates	53°38′07″N 2°43′07″W / 53.6352°N 2.7187°W / 53.6352; -2.7187Coordinates: 53°38′07″N 2°43′07″W / 53.6352°N 2.7187°W / 53.6352; -2.7187
Listed Building – Grade I
Designated	22 October 1952
Reference no.	1164441
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Gate piers at entrance to drive to Heskin Hall
Designated	17 April 1967
Reference no.	1362098
Location of Heskin Hall in the Borough of Chorley

Heskin Hall is a manor house in Heskin, Lancashire, England. Construction began on the present hall in 1545 making it a Tudor building which has been designated a Grade I listed building by Historic England.

In 1506 the lands were sold to Edmund Dudley who was Minister for king Henry VII. Dudley was executed by the king for treason and the land passed to his widow Elizabeth who later married Arthur Plantagenet. The land passed to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland in 1511, who was later executed by Queen Mary and his son Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester was a favourite of Elizabeth I. In 1556 the estate was bought by Richard Molyneux who also bought lands from Mary Seymour, the widow of Thomas Seymour who was the father of Jane Seymour (wife of Henry the VIII). Following the death of Richard in 1568 the estate passed to his son William Molyneux. The house remained the home of the Molyneux family until 1739 when it became a seat of the Mawdesley family, but was sold in 1744 to Alexander Kershaw. Alexander Kershaw never married and died in 1788, his will acknowledged three children, Edmund Newman Kershaw, John Copper and James Kershaw. Edmund being the eldest child inherited his father's estate which later passed to his brother John Copper when he died. John died in 1833 like his brother, without any children causing a legal dispute. It was the heirs of Mary Scott (née Kershaw) who was sister of Alexander Kershaw that won the legal title of legitimate heir. In 1885, it was purchased by Henry Rawcliffe of Gillibrand Hall.Lord Lilford was the last person to occupy the house with Lady Lilford (his fourth wife) who was an ex-dancer and actress. They divorced in 1969 and Lady Lilford gained the Heskin Estate as part of the divorce settlement. It was later occupied by Blackburn College as a training centre, followed by Moben Kitchens as offices and sales training purposes, before its present use as an antique centre which opened in 1995.