Bank Hall stands by the River Douglas in the west Lancashire village of Bretherton, 9 miles from Preston, 25 from Liverpool. Tarleton, Croston and Hoole are it's neighbours. From Tarleton the hall is reached via Bank Bridge which carries the A59 over the Douglas and the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.
Immediately you cross the busy bridge you will see the lodge and it's gates nestling beneath the huge beech tree. Coming from Hoole, also on the A59, your imminent approach will take you past Carr House, a fine Elizabethan farmhouse, and the 18th century windmill. From Bretherton the route is altogether more tranquil, along a country lane dotted with only a handful of houses and along a Carriage Drive, a splendid tree lined avenue some 800 yards long. Whichever way we approach the hall we pass through the cloak of trees which hides it away from the outside world.

Not the most well known building in the country, it is, nevertheless one of the most beautiful and interesting. Yet one could pass by every day and be unaware of its existence, the lofty chimneys and the remnants of the clock tower only faintly glimpse over the tree tops. Indeed, only the lodge gives a clue to the fact that there, behind the pines and past the huge sixty metre barn lies a veritable jewel.

Bank Hall is now unoccupied. It has deteriorated to a very poor reflection of its former glory. Gone are the lime trees which flanked the drive to the front door. Gone are the stone lions that faithfully stood guard. The giant cedar with its huge spreading branches no longer casts its graceful shadow over the pleasure grounds. The tall chimneys have become overgrown with ivy, which has now claimed more than half of the building. The majestic clock tower has lost its northerly elevation which has fallen into the stairwell below, crashing through the seventeenth-century oak staircase. Dry rot has penetrated the fabric of the building with whole sections of the floor falling down and rain pouring through gaping holes in the roof.

Despite the devastation that time and neglect has brought to the great house, it still retains an air of distinction and the very nature of its ruinous state adds to the mystique that encompasses the entire site. In the solitude of early morning, shrouded in mist, the rocks call from their look out in the tower. What events have taken place in the centuries of Bank Halls' existence? What changes has it witnessed in the conditions of English rural life?

Bank Hall belongs to a period very different to ours, a time of servants and gardeners, butlers and coachmen. Such vast houses had no place after The Great War and gradually became left to dereliction and decay, owner and local authority alike unable to halt the decline. Perhaps it is due to the concealed and veiled nature of Bank Hall that so little appears to be commonly known about the details of its history. Indeed, most people from Leyland or Chorley, for example, would be at a loss to answer the question "Where is Bank Hall?" even though it is little more than five miles from either.
Bank Hall is a two-and-a-half storey brick built house with roofs of Cumbrian slate standing in formerly ornamental parkland. It has a north-facing entrance front and south-facing garden front.

The earliest identifiable phase of the present building dates from the early 17th century and is characterised by brick work in English garden wall bond. The ground consists of a four-bay hall with a parlour to the west and wing containing two rooms to the east.

Probably in the second quarter of the 17th century a four-storey stair tower was added in the re-entrant angle of the hall and wing. This retains it original open well staircase. An addition east of the south end of the wing and incorporating a ground floor room, may be contemporary with the stair tower.
In1832-33 the house was extensively remodelled, probably by the Kendal-based architect, George Webster, in an early example of 19th-century Jacobean style. The main entrance porch on the north side, a drawing room wing at the west end, extensive service accommodation at the east and probably the north wing, were all added in this phase. At the same time the south, or garden front was considerably altered. The angle formed by the 17th century house and the west wing was infilled in the late-19th century.

BANK HALL ACTION GROUP
One day in 1995 a couple, Jack and Pat Curren, were taking a walk through the village of Bretherton in the north of England. They walked gingerly up a long avenue marked "Private" that was obviously the approach to the place of some importance. Reaching the end of the drive they found themselves in a place overhung by yews, wooded, close to the river.

Looking over a locked gate bristling with barbed wire they saw long grass, tall weeds, brambles, nettles, ivy and somewhere, encased in this leafy cage a forlorn palace, a scene from Sleeping Beauty.

Here is Pat's account of the moment that Bank Hall was saved.

It was a lovely Spring evening when we took our occasional walk down a lane we knew in Bretherton, fresh leaves were bursting out on the tall trees at either side of us and a black bird went through its usual repertoire reminding us that all nature was renewing itself. MY eyes lifted from the rustling brown leaves underfoot to the new green above - the green that only Spring produces. A pheasant silently slid into the bushes like a flash of jewels, a south wind ruffled the upper branches of the trees and the blackbird flew away giving its alarm call. How beautiful and peaceful it was... but now we had come to the usual spot where we always turned back again I was reluctant however as something was pulling and urging me to go on, so I walked on. As I turned the corner a magnificent sight came into view... Bank Hall. It left me stupefied and I stared at the building in disbelief thinking of how many times I had walked down the carriageway and never turned that corer.
Sometime later we returned with our family and they immediately fell under it's spell just had done in spite of the fact that it was badly neglected and in need of urgent repair. My eldest daughter began to make contacts............

Patricia Curren

Many people before them had taken that same walk, seen the same sad scene, witnessed the magnificent old house dying beneath a tangle of uncontrolled time.

They had all walked away, saddened, but resigned. Patricia though could not forget the place. She told her family and friends about the place she had seen. Pat's description was inspiring. Her daughter Diana, sharing her mother's enthusiasm and curiosity contacted the local council and local press, determined to find out more about the mysterious overgrown mansion.
John Quirk, a journalist on the Chorley Guardian took up the baton, running the award-winning Save Bank Hall Campaign, raising public awareness, prompting the council to organise an emergency conference to discuss the plight of the building and inspiring like-minded people to form the Bank Hall Action Group.

The first meeting of the group was help in June 1995 and will continue to meet every month until it's work is completed. The group has a committee of officers, a formal constitution and charitable status, being affiliated to the Heritage Trust for the North West.

The group first gained access to the grounds of Bank Hall in December 1995. There followed 3 solid years of physical work, stripping ivy, removing trees which grew out of the foundations, and clearing the jungle which had once been the gardens.

Since then the grounds have been opened to the public, a visitor / museum created, a wide variety of events organised, and continuous conservation work goes on until full reconstruction occurs.

The past seven years has transformed Bank Hall from a tragic lost cause into a beautiful vibrant place, it has been a transitional period which has brought the hall back from the brink of extinction to the point where it is now ready for it's re-birth and a new life.

The preparation has been long but very rewarding, the work is far from over but this may be the end of the beginning. Bank Hall: A building for the 21st century and beyond.

Repair work will commence on Bank Hall, Bretherton in the month of March 2002