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  • Byrom Hall
Grade II

Byrom Hall

Slag Lane (northwest side), Golborne

Listed Date: 15/11/1966
Part of Group: No
At Risk: No
Historic England Ref: 222 (Link)

Description

House. 1713.Byrom Hall was the ancestral home of the famous poet and advocate for the working classes John Byrom, who wrote the Hymn; Christians Awake, (Salute the happy morn). Byrom Manor is reputed to have its origins in the year 1212 and the existing Byrom Hall was estimated to have been rebuilt in the 18th Century and at one time featured a Moat.

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Although Henry de Byrom is recorded as living here in the 14th century little is on record about the family and its influence on the community. In 1584 John Byrom lived there and owned lands as far afield as St. Helens, Warrington and Hindley. Henry Byrom was killed in the Civil War, at the battle of Edge Hill in 1642. This Henry was married at the age of 5 to Margaret aged 9, the daughter of Sir Thomas Bewsey of Warrington. The marriage was annulled when Margaret was 20 and she remarried, becoming the mother of the notorious Judge Jeffries.

Another descendant, Samuel (Beau) Byrom, who was born about 1685, was a reckless gambler and spendthrift who was forced to sell the estate to a kinsman Joseph Byrom. Samuel ended up in the Fleet debtor's prison in London and died destitute.

Joseph Byrom's chief contribution to the area was in the financial assistance he gave to the building of St. Luke's parish church in 1732. Before this, Winwick was the parish church for the area.

John Byrom, who inherited the hall in 1740 and lived there till his death in 1763, was a man of letters and was the author of the well-known hymn “Christians Awake”.

The hall itself still stands at the junction of Byrom Lane and Slag Lane. It certainly dates back to the 17th century but was remodelled in 1713, which date and the family crest are to be found on the gable. The moat, alas, is no more.

Source: Leigh History Society