Demolished listed hall’s glorious past MP says building should be rebuilt as was ‘unlawfully’ knocked down
IT hailed from a time before the Napoleonic wars, the Brontes and the First and Second World Wars. Yet it would seem that the former Skelmersdale Hall is no more after its ‘unauthorised demolition’ following a huge fire in March.
The Grade II-listed derelict building, latterly known as the Toby Tavern Bar and Grill on Ashurst Road, was demolished early on May 7 when the bulldozers moved in, in a move later branded ‘unauthorised’ by West Lancashire Borough Council’s planning department.
The sudden demolition came after a blaze on March 4, which had destroyed the windows, roof and large parts of the walls, with police saying afterwards that a joint investigation with the fire service was treating it as suspicious.
The ruined 300-year-old building was already at the centre of uncertainty, due to a planning bid to convert it to offices, a kitchen and bistro and multi-use space in a proposed extra care living facility, withdrawn in April.
Yet the same developer applied just a day before it was flattened for ‘Listed Building Consent – demolition of Grade II Listed Old Toby Inn.’
Now with questions hanging over its fate, there are calls from some quarters for the whole thing to be ‘rebuilt brick by brick.’
But whatever lies in store for the former Toby Tavern, its past glory as one of West Lancashire’s most historic halls lies untouched, so here we piece together parts of the jigsaw of its illustrious story.
Built in 1712 when Queen Anne was on the throne, the former Skelmersdale Hall was home to some of the area’s greatest farming families.
With the location itself standing at the edge of prized agricultural land in West Lancashire, it was surrounded by what was primarily farming area, long before Skelmersdale became famed for coal mining, and long before the arrival of Skelmersdale’s pioneering new town in the sixties which was aimed at offering people a new life away from the mire of Liverpool’s post war slums.
According to Shirley Carr, committee member of Skelmersdale Heritage Society, Skelmersdale Hall was ‘one of the biggest, if not the biggest farm in the Skelmersdale area.’
By 1861, under the management of farmer Thomas Piggott, the large hall was said to have both arable farming and livestock, as well as horse trading.
But the unmarried Mr Piggott was a bit of character, who loved horse trading and lived in isolation at the farm with seven servants, according to Shirley, who quips, in the society’s newsletter: “Heathcliff comes to mind!”
Yet the next occupier of the hall, a farmer called Richard Thomas, was apparently the opposite to his misanthropic predecessor, if an advertisement of the time in the Ormskirk Advertiser in 1868 is anything to go by.
Boasting of his ‘fine exhibitions’ of hay, herbs, flowers, bullocks, livestock and cheeses, saying they were ‘bouquet of beauties from the year,’ the Skelmersdale farmer was no stranger to self-promotion.
A later Scottish farmer, John Ross, of Macduff, Aberdeenshire, was to remain enigmatic but a mainstay, staying at the hall for two decades.
Bringing his Scottish bride Mary to Skelmersdale with him, along with his widowed mother, the long-standing farmer was clearly prosperous during his two decade tenure at Skelmersdale, giving money towards the building of a new Macduff town hall. Yet it was not all work and no play, according to records, says Shirley, as by 1887, on November 5, Skelmersdale Hall played host to lively entertainment – a musical and dramatic evening and a ‘select dance.’
The revelry was said to feature theatre groups the Alexandria Amateur Dramatic Company and the Collette Comedy Company, with dancing afterwards reportedly continuing until the early hours, according to a newspaper of the day.
By 1974, the building had been converted into its latter day usage as a public house and its setting had been substantially altered through extensive new development as Skelmersdale expanded.
The earlier outbuildings had been extended, while the southern wing of the courtyard was demolished to open up the former yard and the garden area and tennis area also disappeared, to be replaced by a car park.
The building was latterly used as a public house, and divided into a music bar, restaurant, Wacky Warehouse and sports bar in recent years.
A heritage report submitted with last year’s planning application stated: “Skelmersdale Hall dates from 1712, although it has been much extended and altered, and its last use was as a public house, The Old Toby, but has been abandoned for some time.
“Formerly having a rural setting, the building has been subsumed into the new town and its original context and setting are substantially changed.
“The house is associated with a later complex of barn and outbuildings, which form a courtyard and which largely screen views of the house.”
It added: “The Old Toby is an important aspect of the historic development of the area.
“The significance of the building is not just reliant on its intrinsic merit as a designated, Grade II-listed building, but also as part of the collective and coherent settlement pattern of preindustrial Skelmersdale.
It is also part of the narrative of the changing townscape and social conditions of the town.”
Mark Boardman, chair of Skelmersdale Heritage Society, said after the fire: “I think from a heritage standpoint, if it can be saved, it should be.
“Skelmersdale has lost more than its fair share of historic buildings over the years for one reason or another.”
Meanwhile, West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper has written to Historic England.
She says it has now confirmed it was told of the ‘unlawful’ demolition only after the event, and have offered their advice to the council on enforcement. “This advice included clarification that a prison sentence would not be excluded.
She said: “The situation is very simple; these developers have ignored the laws in place to protect historically important buildings like the Toby.
“They have taken from us a building that Historic England say had ‘nationally important architectural and historic value’.
“They now must face the consequences of these actions.
“We cannot allow this to go unpunished, the council need to take every step possible to right this wrong.
“The building must be rebuilt, and those responsible need to be prosecuted for the criminal damage they caused.
“The courts must seriously consider whether a prison sentence is necessary to ensure this is not repeated in West Lancashire.”
Agents Grimster Planning Limited, named in the latest planning application as acting on behalf of applicant SEP Construction Services Ltd, were contacted again the Advertiser for comment.