View source for Great Barr Hall

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Great Barr Hall
| status = Derelict, at risk
| image = Postcard of Great Barr Hall, 1907.jpg
| image_alt = 
| caption = 1907 postcard
| building_type = [[Mansion]]
| architectural_style = [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]] [[Gothic style|gothic]]
| structural_system = 
| cost = 
| ren_cost = 
| client = [[Sir Joseph Scott, 1st Baronet|Joseph Scott]]
| owner = Local consortium
| current_tenants = 
| landlord = 
| location = 
| address = 
| location_town = [[Pheasey]], [[Walsall]]
| location_country = [[England]]
| coordinates = {{coord|52.556283|-1.920961|region:GB-WAL__type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| groundbreaking_date = 
| start_date = 18th century
| renovation_date = 
| demolition_date = 
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| height = 
| roof = 
| main_contractor = 
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| designations = [[Grade II listed]]<ref name=NHLE1076395>{{NHLE |num=1076395|desc=Great Barr Hall and Chapel|grade=II|access-date=5 October 2021}}</ref>
| ren_architect = 
| ren_firm = 
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| ren_civ_engineer = 
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| ren_qty_surveyor = 
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| url = 
}}

'''Great Barr Hall''' is an 18th-century mansion situated in the [[Great Barr]] district of [[Pheasey]], historically in [[Staffordshire]] and now part of [[Walsall]], [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]], [[England]]. It has associations with the [[Lunar Society of Birmingham|Lunar Society]] and is a [[Grade II listed]] building.<ref name=NHLE1076395/> It is, however, in a very poor state of repair and is on the [[Heritage at Risk Register|Buildings at Risk Register]].

==History==
===The Scotts===
In the mid-17th century, Richard Scott acquired the house then standing on the site and known as Nether House. In about 1777, [[Sir Joseph Scott, 1st Baronet|Joseph Scott]] (later Sir Joseph Scott, 1st [[Scott Baronets of Great Barr|Baronet Scott of Great Barr]]) replaced the old house with a two-storey, nine-bay mansion in the [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]] [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival style]]. The house was much altered and extended about 1840 and in 1863, an adjacent chapel (which was never consecrated) was erected to a design probably of architect [[George Gilbert Scott]], a friend – but not a relation – of Sir Francis Scott. Two of the extant lodge houses are believed to be by George Gilbert Scott.

The chapel had windows by [[William Raphael Eginton]]. Circa 1816, he described them thus:<ref name="Eginton">{{Cite Q|Q106612012 |page=7}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|6 Windows containing Figures, the size of life, of Hope, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, Prudence, and Charity, after Sir [[Joshua Reynolds]]}}

Outside the chapel are the burial plots of several of Lady Bateman Scott's pets, inscribed with poems she wrote for them.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Chapel of Great Barr Hall Institution, near Birmingham. |journal=The Hospital |date=1 May 1915 |volume=58 |issue=1506 |page=118 |pmid=29824558 |pmc=5230071 |issn=0267-6478}}</ref>

Financial problems led the Scott Family (who gave their name to the nearby Scott Arms pub and shopping centre), to lease out the hall from about 1788 to [[Samuel Galton, Jr.|Samuel Galton]], and for some years the Hall became a venue for meetings of the [[Lunar Society]]. It is said to be the 'favourite place of meeting' of this illustrious body. In 1999, stone memorials to the Lunar Society, the "[[Lunar Society Moonstones|Moonstones]]", were erected at the nearby [[Asda]] supermarket.

In 1791, Sir Francis Scott, 3rd Baronet, inherited the manor of Great Barr from his maternal uncle Thomas Hoo and was able to return to live in the house on the expiry of the lease. He died in 1863. His widow Mildred lived on in the Hall until her death in 1909.

===After the Scotts===

In 1911, the estate was purchased by a local hospital board and, in 1918, became The Great Barr Park Colony [https://www.workhouses.org.uk/WalsallJC/] for 'mental defectives, in 1948 it became  St Margaret's Mental Hospital. Many detached hospital buildings were erected near the hall, and in the 1980s the grounds became a [[nature reserve]], managed by the [[Staffordshire Wildlife Trust|Staffordshire Nature Conservation Trust]]<ref name="Wildlife">{{cite journal|date=1982-01-21|title=Oasis of tranquillity|journal=Health and Social Service Journal|last=Spooner|first=Derek|url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greatbarrhall/birds.htm|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018172726/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greatbarrhall/birds.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> but the hall itself was abandoned in 1978 and, despite its 1971 Grade II* listing, was left to decay.<ref name=NHLE1076395/> The hospital began to close in phases from the late 1980s. The male department closed during 1992 but the female department closed in March 1997. The final residents, those with high dependency, left a newer part of the site in 2004.<ref name="Allen-1987">{{cite web|url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greatbarrhall/hospital_history.htm|title=A Concise History of St. Margaret's Hospital, Great Barr|last=Allen|first=Peter|year=1987|accessdate=19 July 2012|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905094001/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greatbarrhall/hospital_history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

This also included a [[special school]], The Queslett School, which closed in December 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blocl.uk/schools/the-queslett-school-127203 |title=The Queslett School, Great Barr, Walsall: Schools in Walsall UK |publisher=Blocl.uk |date=1988-12-31 |accessdate=2025-04-28}}</ref>

The hall and chapel, both in derelict state, were used in filming the third episode of season 7 of ''[[Dalziel and Pascoe (TV series)|Dalziel and Pascoe]]'', first screened in October 2002.

Many years passed during which discussions and negotiations for the protection of the hall came to nothing. In 2006, [[Bovis Homes]] purchased the 40 hectare estate and obtained planning permission for the redevelopment of the site. Nether Hall Park a new residential housing development, occupying a substantial part of the estate, was completed in the 2010s.

In May 2011 the hall, still in ruins, was put up for sale for £2.2 million,<ref name="Bowen">{{cite news|title=Historic hall fails to sell at auction but could have new owners within month|last=Bowen|first=Amy|date=2012-02-10|work=Great Barr Observer|page=5}}</ref> by the Manor Building Preservation Trust,<ref name="Bowen" /> who had been allowed to purchase it nine years earlier<ref name="Bowen" /> for £900,000. The trust had failed to bring it back into a safe state. It failed to sell, and so was offered for sale by auction on 6 February 2012, by Van Weenan Estate Agents of London, with a guide price of £1,250,000. The highest bid was £1,140,000, and so it again remained unsold.<ref name="Bowen" /> In May 2012, it was sold to a consortium of ten local residents.<ref name="Vickers">{{cite journal|last=Vickers|first=Laura|date=2012-07-13|title=Architects looking at future of Hall say 'anything is possible'|journal=Great Barr Observer|page=2}}</ref> They have commissioned Lapworth Architects to consult with the public and investigate potential new uses for the hall.<ref name="Vickers" />{{update-inline|date=April 2021}}

The hall is on [[English Heritage]]'s "Buildings at Risk Register".<ref name="Vickers" />

== Lodges ==

[[File:Avenue Lodge - Andy Mabbett - 2016-12-07 -06.jpg|thumb|Avenue Lodge in December 2016]]
[[File:Handsworth Lodge - Andy Mabbett - 2016-11-30 - 01.jpg|thumb|Handsworth Lodge seen in November 2016]]
[[File:Walsall Lodge, Great Barr Hall.jpg|thumb|Walsall Lodge on a Frank Nightingale postcard. The herring-bone pattern brickwork has since been overpainted]]

The Hall had six lodges, or gatehouses.<ref name="B43Lodges">{{cite web|url=http://greatbarrhall.b43.co.uk/lodges.html|title=Great Barr Hall Lodges|work=B43|accessdate=30 November 2016}}</ref> Three survive:<ref name="B43Lodges" />

* '''Avenue Lodge''', on Chapel Lane ({{Coord|52.560556|-1.930551|type:landmark_region:GB |name=Avenue Lodge}})
* '''Handsworth Lodge''', where Handsworth Drive meets Queslett Road ({{Coord|52.546292|-1.9246486|type:landmark_region:GB |name=Handsworth Lodge}})
* '''Walsall Lodge''' (formerly '''Shustoke Lodge''', now known as '''Merrions Wood Lodge'''), on Birmingham Road; designed by [[George Gilbert Scott]] in 1858 ({{Coord|52.5623476|-1.9436356|type:landmark_region:GB |name=Walsall Lodge}})

and three are lost:<ref name="B43Lodges" />

* '''Beacon Lodge''', on Beacon Road, near the junction with Waverly Avenue (approx. {{Coord|52.5583335|-1.9117714|type:landmark_region:GB |name=Beacon Lodge}})
* '''Church Lodge''', opposite Avenue Lodge across Chapel Lane (approx. {{Coord|52.560474|-1.930024|type:landmark_region:GB |name=Church Lodge}})
* '''Queslett Lodge''', near where Queslett Road meets Beacon Road (approx. {{Coord|52.5530792|-1.9098169|type:landmark_region:GB |name=Queslett Lodge}})

==Lakes==

A pair of large, man-made lakes—now known as '''Great Barr Hall Upper Lake''' and '''Great Barr Hall Lower Lake'''—are in the grounds of the hall, on two levels, separated by a cascade which is crossed by [[stepping stones]]. The upper lake is fed by a stream, the Holbrook, which leaves the lower lake at the southern end, and runs, via [[Perry Reservoir]], to the [[River Tame, West Midlands|River Tame]], very near the [[Perry Bridge|Zig Zag Bridge]] at Perry Barr. From there, its waters flow, via [[River Trent|the Trent]], to the [[Humber]] and the [[North Sea]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
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*[http://www.opacity.us/site77_great_barr_colony_st_margarets_hospital.htm Photos of the derelict Great Barr Hall and St Margaret's Hospital]
*[http://www.greatbarrhall.com/ Great Barr Hall Action Committee]
*[http://www.ice3.com/GBH/HallSite/people/history.htm the Scotts of Great Barr]
*[http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2011/05/20/18th-century-great-barr-hall-put-up-for-sale-65233-28734206/ Great Barr Hall put up for sale]
*{{EHbarName|Great+Barr+Hall}}
*{{gbmapping|SP056947}}

[[Category:Country houses in the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:Lunar Society of Birmingham]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Walsall]]
[[Category:Great Barr]]