Friends of Heaton Hall

Home
United Kingdom
Manchester
Friends of Heaton Hall

The Friends of Heaton Hall exist to promote knowledge of this late 18th century neo-classical house. Sir Thomas was created Earl of Wilton in 1801.

Heaton Hall was first built on this site around 1685, but was rebuilt to its present design in the 1770s by Sir Thomas Egerton, 7th Baronet, with James Wyatt as architect. The Orangery was built on to the eastern end of the hall by his grandson, the 2nd Earl of Wilton.

15/08/2026

Say hello to ''Kathleens Rose''. Initially bred in 1986 in Heaton Park by Gordon Kirkham who lived in Rose Cottage at the time. This one has been flowering its head off in the garden of our Chairman for the last couple of years. The flowers and beds of Heaton Park are credited by renowned best selling author and botanist Dr DG Hessayon as being an early inspiration to him. Sadly Heatons vast number of flower beds are long gone.

25/07/2026

An interesting card purchased off e-bay. Period writing on reverse confirms this to be Hut 39 St Margarets Camp on 27th May 1918 with Leonard Want stood up in the waistcoat next to the cross in the margin. The St Margarets Camp was previously home to the 16th Battalion The Manchester Regiment who trained there at the start of the war, He was in The Welsh Regiment and also The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, cannot really find much else on him. Heaton Park was a Convalescent Camp at this time so Leonard must have been wounded in some way. The reverse of the postcard also states ‘’then back off to France’’ so obviously fought on until the end of the war a few months later.

19/07/2026

Next September (nothing like a bit of advance notice) will be the Quasquicentennial Anniversary of Heaton Park. Officially opened on Wednesday 24th September 1902.

14/07/2026

News of the electrical work being done at the Hall has reached the prestigious Country Life magazine this week. The Hall has featured in the magazine in 1914, 1921 and latterly in 1992. At least with this small article they know we are still alive!

27/06/2026

UPDATE- So many News outlets jumping the gun over the last couple of days about the Hall re-opening. The electrical work in the hall should be finished and signed off by mid-August. The last part of the job is to remove all the boards that were put up to protect the Halls interior. There are no plans at present for the Friends to have an ‘Open Day’ this year. You might have seen workmen on the roof of The Orangery this week. The roof is undergoing extensive repairs and renewal. Once these are finished and the structure is watertight the Orangery itself will undergo extensive renovation and refurbishment. These works should start around the beginning of September and last until next Summer. Timelines may change as work progresses if ‘unexpected’ faults or problems arise. As the Hall and Orangery are Grade 1 Listed any change to the agreed schedule of works must go through the due process of getting permission and as important to try and find the extra money for the work. We are so looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the Hall on our Open Days, but don’t know as yet when exactly that may be.

20/06/2026

Well, here we go, it’s Parklife weekend. But it's nothing new because over a hundred years ago local man William Grimshaw, ‘The Gramaphone King’, was doing concerts in Heaton Park to 40,000 people. Michael Portillo visited Heaton Park as part of his 'Great British Railway Journeys' programme on the BBC. Filmed, I think, in Summer 2018, talking to the fantastic Dr Carole O'Reilly, who is on 'The Friends Of Heaton Hall' committee. Here they are talking about William Grimshaw and his concerts in the park.

19/05/2026

With the recent celebration of David Attenborough's 100th birthday did you know that there is an Attenborough family connection to Heaton Park?
Richard Attenborough was stationed at RAF Heaton Park at the end of 1943.
In his autobiography "Entirely Up to You, Darling" he writes "....My next posting was to Heaton Park near Manchester. There I hung around awaiting a troop flight to Canada where I was supposed to complete my pilot training and become an officer." However this never happened, as Richard was seconded to the RAF film unit, to star in a full length feature called "Journey Together" (1945), a wartime propaganda film.
One of our former members, Jean Sugar, was a WAAF stationed for 4 years at RAF Heaton Park during World War 2. Mrs Sugar recounts the following encounter... ‘’Before I moved into the Hall I worked in No2 Squadron office to the east of the lake as the only WAAF. We were very busy and asked for a volunteer to help. I heard a nice voice outside and thought ‘tall, dark and handsome’ but found a short smiling sandy haired boy. We worked well together but one night I must have been tired and cross and said I was fed up with the state of the office which was in use 24 hours a day and never got properly cleaned. The next morning it was spotless and the floor had been scrubbed. The cadet had stayed in and done it…..it was Richard Attenborough. He had never told us he had been in the film ‘In Which We Serve’. We only learned that from David Tomlinson (think Mary Poppins), the actor, who was also in the squadron’’.

13/05/2026

'Storyboards' being put up in the park today (weather permitting) keeping people up to date with the Hall & Orangery.

10/05/2026

A rather unspectacular but important image of the Hall. Taken in the late 1860's/1870's by the 2nd Earl Of Wiltons Chef, Alfred Suzanne, it is the earliest image of Heaton Hall that we know of.

22/04/2026

A large group of members of 'The Friends Of Heaton Hall' visited The Victoria Baths on Hathersage Rd yesterday and were given a very informative tour by Gwyneth. Thanks also to Bel and the Cafe staff for making us so welcome....lovely scones! Those with a long memory may recall the baths winning the first prize in the BBC's 'Restoration' programme hosted by Griff Rhys Jones back in 2003.

Address

Heaton Park
Manchester
M252SW

Telephone

+441617739354

Website

http://www.heatonhall.wordpress.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Friends of Heaton Hall posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organisation to be the top-listed Non Profit Organisation in Manchester?