Our Ellesmere Port base, Whitby Hall
Whitby Park in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
Whitby Hall
The History of Whitby Hall
John Grace, a local landowner and the only aristocrat in the area built Whitby Hall in 1860. It was designed as the family home, an elegant residence set in 42 acres of parkland and pasture. The hall was constructed mainly of red Cheshire brick. At the rear of the main house was a coach house and groom’s living accommodation. Much of the estate was sold 11 years later leaving just the hall and 3 acres of gardens.
It stayed within the Grace family until 1931 when it was sold by John Grace to the Urban District Council. The hall became the town’s administrative centre housing various council departments and the gardens were landscaped for form a public park.
The hall and grounds became a focal point for local people, being close to the town centre and a number of developing housing estates. New facilities such as the bowling green and the tennis courts provided opportunities for recreation.
The functions of the local authority outgrew the accommodation at the hall and the early 90’s saw the hall’s windows and doors boarded up and the building was put up for sale. This was a sad turn of fate for one of the few historic buildings in the town and as little interest was shown in purchasing the property it became vulnerable to vandalism and the weather.
However, some years later, the towns up and coming theatre company, Action Transport, had out grown its base at the EPIC leisure centre and this presented the council with an opportunity to re-open Whitby Hall. The arrival of Action Transport Theatre injected new life into the place and a new era began. The company had already been using the park for its outdoor Shakespeare productions and summer arts activities but now had a professional office base, indoor performance area, storage and rehearsal space.
Whitby Park, the original grounds to the hall is the town’s major park and an important area of local space. In 2002, an application to the Heritage Lottery Board was successful and enabled the restoration of the park. With these improvements to the park came the potential to re-develop Whitby Hall as a vibrant cultural centre acting as a seeding ground for youth arts activity. Investment from both the Borough Council and the Regional Arts Lottery Programme allowed for this development to take place and this was completed in Spring 2003.
