Harden Hall

Has been described as a Possible Fortified Manor House

There are uncertain remains

NameHarden Hall
Alternative NamesArden Hall
Historic CountryCheshire
Modern AuthorityStockport
1974 AuthorityGreater Manchester
Civil ParishStockport

Harden Hall north of Stockport was defendable (Emery).

Harden Hall of C16 architecture, bears a resemblance to Poole Hall in Wirral (SJ 37 NE 1) and the two may have been designed by the same architect. The hall is situated on wooded ground overlooking the Tame. The original part of the building is of grey stone with a turret behind, rising above the rest. In front of the mansion, are gables, unusually large bay windows, and a flight of steps leading to the great hall. The hall has been allowed to fall into decay, but the moat still remains. At the sides of the mansion are two small brick buildings, projecting at right angles, and stuccoed, one of which appears to be an addition of late date. 'On a leaden spout in front of the hall, there existed, a few years ago, an ornament representing a portcullis, with the initials R.A.and the remains of E.A. and the date 1597, representing RALPH ARDERNE and his wife ELLEN .... several years ago the eastern portion .... a black and white building, apparently older than the hall, was used as a granary' (Heginbotham). In 1331, Arden Hall came into possession of the Ardernes and remained their home for nearly 500 years. The hall is now in ruins, but the old watch tower, castellated walls, roofless remains of the state rooms and the dry and half filled moat remain. The south arm of the moat- partly water filled - is contained within revetment walling, which is in good condition and headed by modern coping. The moat here has a maximum depth of 1.8m. The east arm is water-filled and has a maximum depth of 1.3m. The north arm has been recently filled in but a small retaining bank still remains. The west arm is now dry and is contained by a revetment wall on its east side only. It has a maximum depth of 1.8m. (PastScape)

Not scheduled

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSJ918933
Latitude53.4364814758301
Longitude-2.12358999252319
Eastings391870
Northings393310
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 477
  • de Figueiredo, P. and Treuherz, J., 1988, Cheshire Country Houses (Chichester: Phillimore) p. 237
  • Walker, J.S.F. and Tyndall, A.S. (eds), 1985, Country Houses of Greater Manchester p. 103-4 online copy
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus and Edward Hubbard, 1971, Buildings of England: Cheshire p. 113
  • Middleton, T., 1932, The history of Hyde and its neighbourhood, with reminiscences of, and notes on, the antiqueries, traditions, folk-lore and history of Denton, Haughton, Dukinfield, Mottram, Longendale, Bredbury, Marple and the adjoining townships (Hyde: Higham Press) p. 440-445
  • Middleton, T., 1899, Annals of Hyde and District (Manchester: Cartwright and Battray) p. 206-9 online copy
  • Heginbotham, H., 1892, Stockport Vol. 2 p. 145-6
  • Taylor, H., 1884, Old Halls of Lancashire and Cheshire p. 142-46 (plan) online copy
  • Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 3 p. 399 online copy