Astley Hall, Grade I listed museum in Chorley, England
Astley Hall is a 16th-century country house in Chorley, Lancashire, now used as a local museum and listed as a Grade I protected building. The front of the house is largely made up of large windows, a feature of Elizabethan architecture, with a stone columned entrance at its center.
The estate took its current form when the Brooke family rebuilt the front of the house at the end of the 16th century, following the marriage of Margaret Charnock to Richard Brooke. In the 20th century, Chorley Corporation acquired the building and opened it to the public.
The rooms contain carved wooden ceilings and painted plaster that date from the time of the original owners, and these details are still visible today. Walking through the house gives a clear sense of how wealthy Lancashire families chose to furnish and display their status.
The hall sits within a park on the edge of Chorley, and is easy to reach on foot or by car. Some interior rooms have low doorways and narrow stairs, so it helps to wear comfortable shoes and move at a relaxed pace.
The upper floor contains a long wooden shovelboard table from the 17th century, considered one of the few surviving examples of its kind in England. Shovelboard was a game in which players slid coins or weights along the surface, and this table gives a rare chance to see what the game actually looked like.
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