Crewe Hall (From Warrington Guardian)

Crewe Hall

Crewe Hall stands a few miles from the town of Crewe. The earliest record of the site is dated from 1170. It became Crewe Hall when Sir Ranulph Crewe bought the mansion in 1608. He demolished the decayed building in 1615 and took 21 years to rebuild it. In 1837 it was restored and an extension added.

A fire broke out in the Hall in 1866, when one of the timbers above a fireplace caught alight, and the interior of the mansion was almost completely burnt out. The Hall had to be rebuilt again, and the third Baron of Crewe, Hungerford Crewe, hired Edward Barry to supervise the work. Barry was the architect who built the Covent Garden Theatre, Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, and Charing Cross Station and Hotel, and he was also in charge of the final work on the Houses of Parliament from 1860-70. During the reconstruction of Crewe Hall, Barry added a further extension to the Hall - the West Wing and the prominent Tower.

In 1922, the Crewe family left the Hall, now a considerable property boasting 190 rooms and a 312-acre walled garden. The then current Lord Crewe tried for many years to sell the Hall, finally passing it on to the Duchy of Lancaster (owned by the crown).

The Hall was occupied by the war department during the Second World War, housing foreign troops from Australia and America - and was used as a prisoner of war camp for over 2,000 German Officers. After the war was over, Crewe Hall was leased to Calmic, a medical company, who were later taken over by the Wellcome Foundation.

Wellcome left the site in 1994 and it was empty until 1998.