Thurnham Hall

Thurnham Hall is a country residence with three floors built around a central Jacobean Great Hall, located in the Lancashire countryside near Lancaster. The main building and additional structures across the 30-acre estate now contain 60 self-catering apartments alongside a leisure center with swimming pool and gymnasium.

The estate originated in the 12th century and changed hands several times before Robert Dalton acquired it from London grocer Thomas Lonne and constructed the present building. Following a fire in 1959, Stanley Crabtree undertook comprehensive renovations in the early 1970s.

The building holds Grade I listed status for its architectural merit and displays features from different periods that tell the story of its evolution. The corner turrets and embattled parapet added in the 1820s remain defining elements of its exterior.

The hall is easily accessible from Lancaster and sits on spacious grounds that offer plenty of room to explore. Visitors should note this is a residential property with self-catering apartments, and the leisure facilities operate on specific schedules for public access.

The site was originally occupied by a medieval structure, showing that the location had been inhabited across centuries before its current form. This layering of different architectural periods makes the hall a record of continuous use through time.