Heskin Hall

HISTORY

This, the New Hall was built in c.1545. Surprisingly no one in the "de Heskin" family ever appears to have been Lord of the Manor of the Heskin Hall Estate.

In 1212 Eccleston and Heskin "Knights fee" was held by Roger Garnet. Records since then link the Heskin Hall Estate too some of the best known names in English history. In 1506 Edmund Dudley, a minister of Henry VIII (later executed for treason) became Lord of the Manor of the Heskin Hall Estate (at least "in Chief") when he bought it and other lands. Although initially forfeit on his death the lands did do to widow Elizabeth who married Arthur Plantagenet and so the Heskin Hall Estate passed to their son John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland later executed by Queen Mary, also for treason, and then to his son Robert who fell foul of Elizabeth I for the same reason. Next Lord of the Manor was Sir Thomas Seymour, father of Jane Seymour (wife of Henry VIII). His widow sold it to a Richard Molyneux in 1556.

The Molyneux family sold the Heskin Hall Estate in 1739 when it became part of the Mawdsley family estates. In turn they sold it Alexander Kershaw in 1744. He remained Lord of the Manor until his death in 1788 leaving three acknowledged children, Edmund Newman Kershaw, John Copper and James Kershaw. By a will dated 1786 Edmund inherited the Heskin Hall Estate from his father but on his death without legitimate children it passed to his brother John. His death in 1833 without legitimate children, left the Heskin Hall Estate the subject of a legal dispute. Who could be Lord of the Manor? It was the heirs of Mary Kershaw (Scott) who emerged victorious from court. The main issue of the case seems to have been who was the legitimate heir.

In 1713, on her wedding day, at the church door, Mary caused a stir by eloping/escaping riding pillion on the horse of her lover, Ralph Scott. There was no official parish record of their marriage and therein lied the key as to who could be Lord of Manor of the Estate of Heskin Hall. The court accepted witness testimony that they had been universally accepted as man and wife, hence her heirs could inherit.

Lord & Lady Lilford occupied Heskin Hall in the 1960's. She was an ex-dancer and actress and on their divorce in 1969 it went to her as part of her divorce settlement. Since then occupation has been commercial, including Blackburn College and a double glazing firm, who both used it for educational purposes.

THE GHOSTS

Several battles and skirmishes where fought in the vicinity of the Heskin Hall Estate during the Civil War indeed the County saw many atrocities and the fighting here was amongst the fiercest in the country. Heskin Hall was allegedly an overnight resting place for Oliver Cromwell as well as being the site of the execution of many religious martyrs. The then Lord of the Manor of the Heskin Hall Estate was John Molyneux. He declared for parliament and the Heskin Hall Estate was compounded. Our ghosts date from this time. They are alleged to be the ghosts of a young Roman Catholic girl who was hanged by a Priest as evidence of his conversion to protestantism. Cromwells' soldiers remained unconvinced and hung him from the same beam.