Local Life - St Helens - Jul/Aug 2021

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40

The making of

Muncaster Hall by Nicola Gray

St Helens has its fair share of listed buildings and notable properties dotted around the borough, but the back story of Muncaster Hall, an elegant Victorian property that once stood proudly on the outskirts of Rainford village, is more fascinating than most. This is a story of wealth, love, adultery and foul play more befitting of an episode of Downton Abbey, Local Life looks back at Muncaster Hall’s colourful past. Many Victorian homes didn’t have the modern comforts that we take for granted today; poorer members of society lived in cramped conditions in run-down houses, often with whole families in one room. Homes for the upper classes were much more accommodating, with wealthy Victorians decorating their homes in the latest styles; including flowery wallpaper, carpets and wellmade furniture.

Driveway and entrance gate

Muncaster Hall lived up to the Victorian stereotype in its styling and architecture, the origins of the building however were steeped in somewhat of a scandal. In 1857 a young Richard Pennington, the son and heir of

Muncaster Hall & Pennington Family


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