Turnhurst Hall
Turnhurst Hall was an imposing country mansion built around 1700. There was
a residence here prior to the hall being built, as is documented in the General
Muster Roll of 1539 which shows an extract by a William Rowley of Turnhurst.
Around the 1760's the Hall was owned by the Alsager family and in 1765 it
was rented from them by the famous local engineer James Brindley. He lived
there with his wife Anne Henshall of Bent House (Bent Farm) whom he married
on 8th December 1765.
It was in the grounds of the hall that James Brindley built a model for his
Canal Lock System, that enabled canals to be built virtually anywhere and
not just on flat ground. This was to become his finest engineering achievment
to date. James Brindley finally succumbed to illness which had troubled him
for the past few years and died on 27th Sept 1772. He was buried three days
later in St James Churchyard overlooking
his home.
Turnhurst Hall was demolished in 1929 as a result of mining susidence, and
the last remaining outbuildings were in turn demolished in 1970
More Information:-
hello there...my name is john egerton from ontario canada.this morning while searching for info on turnhurst hall i came accross your website.i was pleasantly surprised to see the lovely image of turnhurst. i have been researching my EGERTON ancestors for years and have traced them to the potteries and stone,trentham and barlaston.i thought i would pass on the little knowledge i have of turnhurst with regards to the egertons.congratulations on a great site and hope you find my info useful.take care,john egerton,canada.
Turnhurst was built circa 1700 and was the ancient home of the Egertons.
The first knowledge I have of Egerton occupants is the son of
Sir Philip Egerton, the Baron of Oulton Cheshire.His name was Philip Egerton
Doctor of Divinity, Rector of Astbury, Cheshire. He married
Francis Offley daughter of John Offley esq of Madeley. In her will of 1738,
Francis leaves her estate to her daughter Sibilla.
The barons of Oulton were cousins of Francis Egerton the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.
This may be why we find Brindley living at Turnhurst.
This line of Egertons were direct descendants of Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord
Chancellor and Lord Keeper under Elizabeth 1st and King James.
Another connection to Turnhurst and the Potteries is that of Rowland Egerton,
son of Rev Philip of Astbury and grandson of Philip Egerton Baron of Oulton.
Rowland married Katherine Wedgwood and they operated the Overhouse at Burslem.
When Katherine Wedgwood died in 1756 she left an inheritance to her nephews
Thomas and Josiah Wedgwood, who went on to develop the Wedgwood potteries.
