Photo-a-Day  (Sunday, 4th June, 2023)

Wonder if it’s being restored to how it was before the ‘hoteliers’ got their mitts on it.

Yes and also trees and shrubs cutting back. That's what happens
when the place hasn't been looked after for years, neglected when the Council sold it off...not sure who owns it at the moment.

When this beautiful icon building was sold it got fenced off so the public couldn't visit it. Is it back under Wigan Council control.
Really does need renovating.

The Hall has been unkempt for years, The building should be at the heart of Haigh and the plantations . The place has been run down for years not just the Hall but the large pond too, remember the lovely big greenhouses. Really sad place from it's heyday.

Its all about greed and how much money can we make out of it.
Wigan has lost many special buildings the Council are good at destroying them.

That great news Dennis, should not have got rundown it the first place. Neglect cost money in the end.

Veronica good point, but the council shouldn't have sold it in the first place. Council tax payers never have a say.

Have your say at he ballot box.

I agree Malc it was left to the people of Wigan in 1947 as I recall. It should not have been sold off. The company who bought did not restore it sympathetically….that dreadful chewing gum pink paint on the walls was totally out of character.. it wasn’t even finished before they did a ‘moonlight flit’! I wonder what is happening to it. Other towns like Chorley seem to keep buildings in very good condition such as Astley Hall and there’s Smithills Hall at Bolton where Samuel Crompton did his ‘ conjuring’ ie inventions. Wigan Council don’t seem to care about preservation at all.

Veronica, I don't think it was left to Wigan Council. I think Lord Crawford sold it to Wigan Council for what now,would be the derisory sum of around £18000., in order to meet the new swingeing government taxes which had been recently introduced.

It wasn't sold off it was leased.

I didn’t know it was sold originally Derek B to Wigan Council I was under the impression it was gifted. I thought it was leashed though to the previous people, who just up sticks and left. The Council should get their act together and think of restoring it properly….

It looks like you've captured someone with an orange Hi Vis vest up on the roof Dennis, and maybe the others have gone up there too, to look for a ball.

It also looks like the fountain that was put in front of the entrance has gone - maybe the hotelier's wanted it back, or maybe it's hidden by the trees?

It doesn't matter who what and why, the public should have a say in this matter.

In all the years they have owned it , Wigan Council have never treated Haigh Hall seriously. The first thing they did after buying it was to convert one of the large ground floor rooms into a tacky cafe , which stayed that way for years.

Haigh Hall was handed back to Wigan Council in June 2021 after a High Court battle with the leaseholders, who had failed to comply with the terms of the lease.
In January 2023 the Council was awarded £20 million pounds from the Government Levelling Up Department for the restoration of the Grade2 listed building and it's surroundings.
Source....Manchester Evening News.
Sorry I don't know how to put links on

I love Haigh Hall and the plantation. Great childhood memories thanks.

The hoteliers paid £400,000 premium for the lease on Haigh Hall, only to have it, theoretically, 'bought back' by Wigan Council some three years later, for a multi-million pounds gross sum. Not a bad investment at all. The council only scraped through, on a technicality, after being told, by the judge, not to waste the court's time.

Some people still believe the old chestnut "it was given to the people of wigan"

Check out the requisitioning of country houses during WW2 then the heavy taxes imposed on their owners by the post-war labour government. Also the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947. It might give you some sort of understanding as to how Haigh Hall, along with many other 'halls' and estates were reclaimed by the then government.

Yes there were so many changes after the war Born and Bred. The debt had to be paid..most of the Halls were used as hospitals and bases for the Military. The most famous hall I can think of at the time was Bletchley Park. Is it any wonder the big houses fell by the wayside. That’s also why the Aristocracy opened them up as ‘museum's’ for the public to make money to pay the taxes….it still goes on.. thanks for the information I would like to read about Haigh Hall’s usefulness during the war.