manchester

tourist guide

regional sightseeing

Bramall Hall

Bramhall Park
Stockport
0161 485 3708
www.stockport.gov.uk/tourism/bramall

Adults £3.95, concessions £2.50, family £11.

Easter to Sept: Mon-Sat 1pm - 5pm; Sun and Bank Holidays 11am - 5pm; other times ring ahead.

Black and white timber-framed Elizabethan manor house set in a sixty acre park overlooking Victorian landscaped gardens and the lush Ladybrook Valley.  Bramhall Hall was remodelled in the C19 but retains many original features.  The east front is especially fine, as are the religious paintings in the chapel and intricate C16 wall paintings - composed of vegetable dyes, they depict birds, animals, flowers and demons and are now regarded as some of the most important in the country.  They alone make the journey here worthwhile.  C19 living is well documented in the servants quarters and will soon be brought to life with period tours from the 1890s.  The grounds are excellent for a stroll with adventure playgrounds for the children and outdoor events in summer.

Toilets, baby changing facilities, cafe, shop, group and school visits, disabled access, guided tours, video, special events.

Also nearby is Abney Hall, off Manchester Road (B5095) in Cheadle.  Built in 1847, this ornate Gothic Revival hall has hosted Disraeli, Gladstone and Prince Albert in its time, not to mention Agatha Christie, who regularly visited the house as a child and based the character Miss Marple on the Governess.  The gardens and fishing ponds are open year round to the public, the hall (now offices) twice a year only and for a small charge.

Links within ManchesterOnline