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Worsley New Hall and Gardens, and Worsley Hall Garden Centre
The New Hall top terrace with its "elegant balustraded wall" circa 1870 We hope you will find of interest this revealing historical detail about the origin of the Garden Centre site and the Head Gardener's Cottage, in relation to the New Hall, together with several photographs from the W.H.G.C. archive. The photographs - mainly dating from the 1950's and 60's - bring back to life everyday scenes from the period in and around the garden centre site. The photographs may be accessed via the menu on the left. When you have seen the photos and read the text, don't miss the poignant article by Ruth Campbell (nee Roscoe) (grand-daughter of the former head gardener Mr William Barber Upjohn), "Recollections of Worsley", at the foot of the page. This wonderfully touching narrative transports the reader back in the time to family life within the Gardener's Cottage during the early part of the last century, and forms a golden link between the past and the present. Worsley Hall Garden Centre today occupies the site of the New Hall Kitchen Garden but nowadays, apart from the lake, little is left to remind us of the magnificent sixty acres of gardens and grounds that surrounded the New Hall, pictured above. (Details of the New Hall to follow)
The approach to the main entrance of the New Hall was along a curving carriage drive lined with
lime trees that almost met overhead, indeed by 1895 the Gardeners Magazine
reports that these had been thinned of alternate trees and those that had been
left moved further back. The avenue of limes was connected to the hall by
handsome specimen hollies. It was to the south of the lake that the principal formal gardens lay, a series of six terraces leading down to an ornamental lake, with extensive views over Chat Moss to the Cheshire Plain, Shropshire and the Welsh hills. The original very elaborate geometric design of the top terrace was by Mr Markham Nesfield, but by 1875 these had been simplified. William Hindshaw, in his 1875 guide to Eccles and Worsley, provides us with a detailed description of the gardens. "Through an avenue of limes and close-shaven terraced lawns we reach the Hall. Stopping short of the splendid fabric, and descending the broad, imposing flight of steps at the east we find ourselves on the croquet lawn which is surrounded on the south side by a scroll bed in boxwood and spar, the others being dotted at intervals with circular beds. Passing a carefully-trimmed holly hedge, a view of rare beauty burst upon us. In the foreground are sloping lawns mostly carefully trimmed, bounded by a lake of four acres in extent. Looking south-east we see a green glade ornamented with clumps of evergreens and tall forest trees, surrounded with rhododendrons... Contemplating the more immediate view - the brilliant garden at our feet - we observe that the more-strictly geometrical portion is divided from the sloping terraces and ornamental parterres by an elegant balustraded wall, under which run borders of geraniums, lobelia and calceolaria, rich in the primitive colours, scarlet, blue and yellow; and planted in wavy lines, the blending colours form a charming harmony.
Advancing to the right we approach the fountain, an elegant design in bronze by Valdosine, a prize object of the Exhibition of 1851. The central group of storks, kingfishers and water-lilies is considered a masterpiece of art. Cut out in the grass, adjoining this, are geometrical figures planted principally with succulent plants - the thick leaves nutritive products of warmer climates, their sober colours relieved by the groundwork of rich-hued alternanthera. Advancing westward we reach the geranium ground (an Italian design) gorgeous with scarlet and white and pink and variegated foliage; conspicuous amongst which is a central star-shaped bed, studded with flowers of a golden-leaved variety. Emerging from this little paradise, close between the walls of a double hedge, we pass by an octagonal seat...beyond this are two trees planted by the Queen and the Princess Royal. The Wellingtonia Gigantea, by the former, haughtily declines to recognise the air of England as equal to that of California, notwithstanding its royal introduction, and presents a shrivelled and attenuated form; while the oak of the Princess, finding itself at home, is robust and thriving. Passing all these we come to a charming little rosary, completely enclosed by tall hedges, and rich in all the sweetness of scent and colour and form which the queen of flowers is calculated to yield. Returning to the flight of steps by which we descended to the base of a series of four slopes, our attention is arrested by a large bed of the finer varieties of rhododendron, rich in every variety of tint from the deepest crimson to the lightest cerulean. A charming sight in early summer, for it is accompanied in close proximity with the budding May in white and pink, skirted with the first unfolding of the tender green of the forest trees. Standing midway on the central bank, we observe on either hand a long ribbon border richly planted with tender blue flowers. On the lowest terrace, on each side of the central walk, are two very graceful designs with a central fountain in each division, and ivy-bordered beds at the angles, containing choice flowers, a narrow band of grass feathered with flowers surrounding the whole, setting forth a delightful picture.
In front is the lake, a beautiful sheet of water seen from this nearer point,
with a pretty little island connected to an elegant bridge with the near bank,
having fantastic grottoes and rock work, with drooping willows dipping into the
pool and affording shelter to the varied water fowl which sport on the surface,
The pleasure grounds (strictly so kept) embrace between fifty and sixty acres". View of south front and terraces from the lake In 1847, to supply water to the Hall, lake, gardens and kitchen garden a pipe was laid from Blackleach Reservoir in Walkden, at a cost of £3,201, The gradient ensured the water pressure was such that the large fountain had one of the highest jets in the country. The modern-day Garden Centre, the former kitchen garden of the New Hall, still uses water from Blackleach.
For many years the man in charge of the gardens and grounds was Mr William
Barber Upjohn. He was only 23 when in 1866 the 3rd Earl of Ellesmere appointed
him as Head Gardener. See the absorbing notes below, "Recollections of Worsley" written by Mr Upjohn's Granddaughter, Ruth Campbell (nee Roscoe) in 1999. He remained in his post until the age of 78, when the Estates were sold. He continued to live in the Head Gardener's Cottage (see the photograph below, and those from the '50's and '60's) until his death in 1939, aged 96.
The kitchen gardens, no doubt Mr Upjohn's pride and joy, were situated about a quarter of a mile from the mansion. The walled gardens, now the site of Worsley Hall Garden Centre, where we purchase trees, shrubs and bedding plants, contained "the usual wineries, pine pits, melon grounds etc with several walls trained with hardy fruit trees. One of the most useful and really good inventions for the protection of wall fruit, the Trentham wall-case has just been erected here".
Plan of the greenhouses, vineries, peach houses, mushroom houses, pipes and boilers.
William Hindshaw describes the scene: "A walk of a quarter of a mile through a wood brings us to the kitchen garden, ten or twelve acres in extent, containing a vast number of forcing houses, capable of supplying all sorts of fruit in all seasons, while hardy fruits and vegetables are grown in abundance in the open. The Head Gardener's cottage is a model of elegance, with exquisitely beautiful surroundings. We know not which most to admire - the taste of the original designer of these delightful gardens, or the skill and intelligence of the gentleman who maintains them in their present attractiveness."
Acknowledgements: Text copyright Ann Monaghan, Salford Museums and Heritage Service 2003. Images - C.E. Mullineux, Walkden Library Heritage Unit, Salford Museum and Heritage Service - The Lifetimes Project Ted Gray Slide Collection. Recollections of Worsley by Ruth Campbell, Granddaughter of Mr William Barber Upjohn I was born in Farm Lane, Worsley, in 1921. A small terraced house at the end of the row opposite the Bridgewater hotel. The house had a living room, a kitchen at the back with a pantry on one side and a bathroom on the other, and three bedrooms upstairs. The toilet and coalshed were in the enclosed back yard and there was a little patch of garden at the front. At the rear of the house there was an open space bounded by the back of properties on Barton Road and The Beanfields, as well as those on Farm Lane. This made a lovely "play area" and was generally known as "The Backs". Here was where we had a communal bonfire in November with home-made toffee and parkin made by our mothers. In the summer months the Walls Ice-cream man stood at the bottom of Farm Lane with his tricycle where we could buy a "Snowfruit" for a penny, or a "Brick" for twopence. I attended Worsley Infants School from being 4 years old, when Miss Chapman was head teacher there, and then went on to the "top" school where Mr Derbyshire was the headmaster. On the way to school we passed Mrs Grunwell's house, the end of the terraced row on Barton Road. (Here the local Doctor held a surgery occasionally) and then we usually went over the A.B.C. bridge where our alphabet was always recited. When I first started school it was obvious that I was left-handed. This was not allowed-for in those days. Unfortunately if they tied my left arm behind my back and made me write with my right hand I started at the top right hand side of the paper and copied all the letters backwards. My mother told me how she had to hold the paper up to the mirror to see what I had written. Eventually I was reluctantly allowed to write with my left hand and I still do 70 years later. Another recollection of the "top" school is having to stand on the form throughout a lesson as a punishment for not being able to say the word "Scotland" properly. I could not pronounce the "t" in the middle. I thought the teacher, Miss Cordwell, was unfair, and I still think so. The cane was occasionally used if we were very naughty, although never to excess. One stroke on each hand was the maximum, although the threat of being reported to Mr Derbyshire was usually enough to bring us all into line. The toilets were some distance away from the school building. If we needed to go during lessons we had to put up our hand and ask "Please may I go down the yard?" The response was always, "Yes, but be quick" which seemed a little unnecessary as nobody would want to stay in such an unattractive place for long. When I was 6 years old I moved, together with my parents and brother, to live with my maternal Grandfather who had been the Head Gardener for the 3rd Earl of Ellesmere and who still lived in the Gardeners Cottage in what had been the Kitchen Garden for the estate, when the Hall was occupied by the Earls of Ellesmere. My Grandfather, Mr William Barber Upjohn, was born on the 18th May, 1843 in Cley in Norfolk. His father was a farmer and his Grandfather was a Vicar of the nearby village of Field Dalling. At the age of 14 my Grandfather went to work on the estate of the Earl of Dalkeith, just south of Edinburgh. Here he served as an apprentice gardener and learnt the trade which was to occupy him for the rest of his long life. At the age of 23 he was employed by the third Earl of Ellesmere as head Gardener on the huge Worsley estate. This was a big responsibility for such a young man but time was to prove that he made a great success of his career and came to be loved and respected by all who knew him. Apparently when the Earl interviewed him for the position the Earl told him that he was really looking for an older man and one who was married, as he would be occupying the Gardeners Cottage which was a large house situated in the Kitchen Garden of the Estate. Grandfather told him he could not do anything about his age but that he could get married. When he knew he had been appointed he immediately proposed to Mary Robertson, an 18-years old girl living in Dalkeith, then grew a moustache to make himself look older. He married Mary in Dalkeith in December 1870 and brought his bride to Worsley to live in the house allotted to them. Their fourteen children were born there and although three of them died in childhood, eleven of them lived to maturity living in idyllic surroundings within a loving and close family. All the children were christened at Worsley Church and some of them married and were laid to rest there, and Grandfather was to attend Worsley Church regularly for the next 70 years. The family gathered in the dining room every morning for morning prayers before they set off for school and later for work, although this practice had ceased by the time I went to live there.
The Gardeners Cottage was described by someone writing about Worsley in 1878 as "a model of elegance with exquisitely beautiful surroundings" and this was still so when I went to live there in 1927, with a tennis lawn and a croquet lawn, a lovely summerhouse and fruits and flowers in abundance all round. The house had five bedrooms and an attic a large dining room, a sitting room which was octagonal in shape, a small room, known as the Study, and a very large living kitchen, and two rooms in the cellar. The kitchen was the heart of the house with a large well-scrubbed white wood table (just the right size for playing table tennis on) and a long form down one side against the wall - just the thing for cramming six or seven children on for family meals. All the cooking was done on the large kitchen range and on the hob. There were no such things as thermostats, of course, so the heat of the oven had to be judged by feel and a lot of guess-work. The fire would have to be stoked up if the oven was required for pies and pastries, and cooled off for food not needing such a hot oven. There was a huge piece of furniture in the kitchen with very deep drawers that housed sacks of flour and sugar, and containers of dried fruits, all ready for baking quantities of bread, cakes and pies etc to feed a large family. The family had always kept what was described as "a good table". Chickens, ducks and geese were there, and a good supply of fresh eggs. I remember when the eggs were collected they were always put on the right-hand side of the shelf in the kitchen, and were always taken from the left-hand side when required for cooking, etc. When there was a glut of eggs and the hens were laying well my Mother would preserve some in Isinglass for use when we were a bit short and the hens were not laying well. Fresh fruit and vegetables were always available in abundance, and rabbits and pheasants in the woods were shot on occasions. The Milkman delivered the milk by horse and cart. The milk being ladled out of huge churns by long-handled half pint and pint measures. We always had some of the daily milk poured into a bowl rather than a jug so that after standing for a few hours we could scoop the cream off the top to be used on breakfast cereals etc. Keeping food fresh was always a problem, particularly in the summer months, but the cellars were always cool so milk, meat, bacon etc was always kept down there. Also the cellar usually contained bottles of home made nettle and ginger beer which we children loved. No one bought "pop" for us. A covered yard at the back door housed a coal-fired clothes boiler and the usual dolly tub and mangle, also huge barrels of corn meal etc for the poultry. There was also an "outside" loo! There were always huge piles of ironing to be done on "washdays", No "drip dry" materials; and shirts and collars to be starched. The ironing was all done on the kitchen table with flat irons heated at the fire. We did have a gas iron in the 1930s - a great improvement. Gas had been brought to the house in the late 1930s, until then we all went to bed with a candle to light our way up the stairs and to use if we had to get up in the night. There were five bedrooms on the first floor, a bathroom and separate toilet, and an extra bedroom in the attic. The attic, a lovely octagonal shaped room, was full of all kinds of treasures from days gone by including two trunks full of old clothes absolutely ideal for dressing up. Great changes came about in 1921 when the Egerton family were obliged to sell the Worsley estate. Sadly, both the Old Hall and the New were left empty, and the beautifully laid-out gardens were left to "go back to nature", and soon became overgrown and neglected. Happily, it was agreed that my Grandfather should be allowed to remain in the Gardener's Cottage for the rest of his life. He was still the Head Gardener at the age of 78 and, I suppose, was not expected to live very much longer. As it happened he lived a full and active life for another 18 years, dying, after only three days' illness at the age of 96, after living in the house for 73 years.
The Kitchen Garden of the estate was rescued from neglect by an uncle of mine, who moved into the Bothey (the house which had been home to the unmarried gardeners on the estate) and took it over as a commercial enterprise. With my grandfather's help and guidance he continued to grow fruit, flowers and vegetables to sell in the wholesale market in Manchester and to sell by horse and cart to housewives in the district. This is how it was as I grew up in the 1920s and 1930s. I suppose I was luckier than my mother and her brothers and sisters in a way. When they were growing up the Earl and his family were very often in residence at the Hall and although my mother would be allowed a certain amount of freedom in the Pleasure Grounds they would be more restricted than I was. As the Hall was empty in my time we had the whole of the grounds as our playground. The summer houses (three of them), the lake and the island, the fountains - full of tadpoles and newts etc and lovely dragon flies in the air! Although the grounds were slowly becoming overgrown, the Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Wisteria on the terraces and daffodils were all still glorious in their seasons. All added up to a wonderful childhood for me. I learned a lot about gardening from helping my grandfather as quite a little girl. Helping to prick out seedlings, disbud Chrysanthemums, turning apples in the storage rooms etc. In the soft fruit season I would bring friends home from school to pick raspberries, blackcurrants, etc. Grandpa would give us sixpence (2.5p now, but a fortune to us then) for each basket we filled. We could go to Woolworths in Eccles and buy lots of things then - there was nothing over sixpence in Woolworths. Or, if we really saved up, we could go to Marks and Spencers in Manchester. They sold nothing over five shillings and you could buy a dress for four shillings and elevenpence! We never had a car or a telephone. The nearest public telephone was at Ellenbrook Road, in Boothstown. Quite a walk! The nearest Post Box was near the monument on Leigh Road, so unless someone was going to the village we went there. Occasionally, I remember going to Worsley to post a letter on the "Post Tram". The last tram to Manchester every evening had a Royal Mail Post Box on the platform and if we could catch the post on that we could rely on our letters being delivered the next day wherever they were addressed. Our mail was never delivered to the house, but left by the Postman in a box situated near the Hall that housed the Fire Engine. One of the gardeners would collect it from there each morning and I would collect the afternoon delivery on my way home from school. There was no "junk mail" in those days but my Grandfather wrote to all his family, who had moved away, every week, and they replied, so there were not many days passed without a letter from someone. When I was about 11 years old I "inherited" a bicycle that had belonged to my brother and to several cousins before him, I was not allowed to go on the main roads on it as by the time it came to me it only consisted of two wheels and a frame! No brakes or mudguards - but I could ride through the grounds to the village and leave it at the Lodge gates when I was going to school. We had to allow twenty minutes to walk to Worsley if we had a bus to catch, so I could do it in half the time on my bike. By the time I was in my teens there was a great choice of cinemas in the area. Two in Walkden, one in Monton Green and three in Eccles. Most of them showed two feature films each week accompanied by the news, a cartoon and sometimes a secondary film - all for ninepence. If I was going to Walkden I would ride my bicycle to the Church Lodge where I would meet my friend and catch the bus to Walkden. We thought nothing of walking home as it was quite safe in those days and we could call at the fish and chip shop in Edge Fold on the way, then call at her house, which was near the church, to eat them. It was not considered "very nice" to eat in the street! If I was going to Eccles or Monton I would leave my bike at the lodge at the Courthouse and catch the bus there but would usually stay at another friend's house who lived in Winton, for the night, rather than go all the way home in the dark.
Sadly, when Grandfather died we had to leave "The Gardens". The house was empty and neglected for years but eventually rescued by a gentleman who bought it and turned it into the superb Garden Centre that it is today. Although many of the greenhouses have gone and it is much changed, the walled garden is again filled with plants and colour, the potting sheds, tools sheds, apple storage rooms and mushroom cellar still remain, and the house is being used. I think Grandfather would be pleased to see so many flowers and plants being cared for again. The "pleasure grounds" unfortunately are today almost a wilderness and no-one walking through today could possibly imagine the beauty that would have surrounded them fifty years ago.
Now the motorway runs like a scar between the village and the Church. The "New" Lodge near the Courthouse and the schools have gone. The "Church" Lodge has been extended and made into a Pub and the lodge gates moved several hundred yards down the Leigh Road. The "West" Lodge still remains. The Old Hall is surrounded by a Golf Course and a huge Hotel and Leisure Centre built where the Home Farm buildings were. Still, fortunately, a little of the old Worsley had been preserved and brings back memories. Although in these pages I have only mentioned my Mother's family, my Father's forbears were also involved, for very many years, in Worsley. My paternal Grandfather, Walter Roscoe, played a prominent part in the development of the District as a Councillor for nearly 20 years and Chairman of the Worsley U.D.C. in 1915. His obituary appeared in The Journal dated 13th October 1939. His father, Joseph Roscoe (1832-1919) was a carpenter by trade and was "master" of the Worsley, Walkden yards in 1880. He was a great historian and many of the newspaper cuttings that he collected over the years are now in the Walkden Library. His obituary appeared in The Journal of 25th April, 1918. My Great, Great Grandfather, William Roscoe (1800-1862) was a Cooper (a Barrel Maker) by trade and I still have his original Indentures of Apprenticeship dated 1814 which make very interesting reading. He was Forman of the Walkden Yard for 20 years before he died. His obituary appeared in the Farnworth Observer dated 25th October 1862. His Grandfather was Head Keeper to the Duke of Bridgewater about the time the canal was being constructed in 1761. My roots are deeply embedded in Worsley and I still get great pleasure from visiting my old haunts and bringing my family to see where their forebears lived and worked. Ruth Campbell (nee Roscoe) October 1999. Acknowledgements: Ann Monaghan, Salford Museums and Heritage Service.
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