Little Moreton Hall
Day Trips · Historic Houses

Little Moreton Hall

Castlesandturrets

Built: c. 1504 – c. 1610

Location: Congleton CW12 4SD

History: Built to make a big impression, Little Moreton Hall was constructed during the Tudor period, with the earliest part of the house begun in around 1504 to 1508 and the latest addition being completed in 1610.

The Moreton family were wealthy landowners in the area and built the house as a symbol of their prosperity and remained in the possession of the Moreton family for almost 450 years until ownership was transferred to the National Trust in 1938. 

Little Moreton Hall and its sandstone bridge across the moat are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.

Review:  This logic-defying 16th-century Tudor manor still stands to the delight and astonishment of onlookers – and I have to say that this place is pretty incredible!

The first impression me and Luke got of this place was that it was about to fall down! But we didn’t need to worry as it was quite sturdy.

For the people who haven’t read all my posts, me and Luke seem to come across these places completely by surprise. We had planned to go to Lyme Park that day back in February which we did (post to follow soon), but we finished sooner then we planned. So since we had time, we thought it would be a good idea to detour to this place before we came home.

Now I’m going to be honest, I probably wasn’t in the best mood by the time we pulled up, as I ended up getting a chip in the windscreen of my car.

That did annoy me, and even though I’ve fixed it, I can still see a tiny little crack (doesn’t affect what I can see on the road though before you say anything).

Anyway, the point of me bringing this up is the fact that even though I was annoyed, I felt super happy by the time me and Luke started exploring this place.

When we walked up and saw the front of the house though, I remember smiling because this place was super interesting!

I mean it just looks like its about to fall down, but it’s actually really sturdy.

The photo above just shows the front of the building, but there is actually so much more to this place.

When we arrived we walked across the bridge, past a storage room (which many people mistake for stables, or somewhere to keep their animals but isn’t the case), and were greeted by two really friendly staff members.

They told us that we had just missed the start of one of the tours, but that we should be able to catch them up, which of course we were like great, we’ll do that.

But for whatever reason, me and Luke could not find them. So we just decided to explore the place by ourselves.

It didn’t really bother us though, as we really loved that we could get a really good feel for the place when it was just the two of us in a room.

We were lucky as it wasn’t very busy (there were a few people, but we seemed to have timed it perfectly).

I don’t know what I expected but this place is huge, and it took us ages to explore this house.

Our favourite bit though would be the amazing third floor Long Gallery where they used to play sporting games.

This Long Gallery was the perfect place to exercise in the cold, miserable weather that the UK is famous for. At least they could exercise to help keep themselves entertained.

Not only that but I think they would have used this space for the country dances that were so popular with our ancestors. We learnt that it would not have been used as a picture gallery (like we see in many Stately Homes) as there wouldn’t have been enough space on the wall.

Me and Luke really like this part, but in a weird way it reminded me of that rickety bridge that is shown in the Harry Potter films (just because the flooring was so uneven).

Anyway, it’s not just all wood in the house. There was clearly a bit of money spent on decorating the place.

Here you can see the two ends of the Long Gallery, so at least even if people were bored of exercising they could at least get lost in their imagination as they take in all the decorations.

Not sure if anyone noticed from the photo of the Long Gallery, but there is actually a door hidden away to a little room as well.

This room is known as the retiring room, and you can access it from a narrow door from the Long Gallery.

What me and Luke loved about this room was the leaning fireplace. For starters the design was just stunning, but also I really just loved that you could see how much time had passed since it had been built.

But to make it even more interesting we learnt a really cool fact about this fireplace.

It may be almost unbelieveable, but the fireplace in the Long Gallery Chamber is perfectly straight, as proved by a spirit level! The surrounding floors and walls are very wonky and create the false impression that the fireplace is leaning.

There is so much to see though, so much history and rooms to learn about at this place (which is super exciting)!

You’ve got a bedroom chamber complete with four poster bed, a wardrobe full of clothes and hats for dressing up (which is perfect for people with young children) and the privy that opened into the moat below!

We had to go round the house several times to take everything all in. We loved it.

When we decided to go outside, what was super cool was the fact that this house has its own moat. I don’t know why I loved it, but it just adds a certain charm about this place.

From the back of the house, you’ve got the knot garden as well. You couldn’t walk amongst it, but it was a really neat little area.

There’s not a lot of outdoor area to explore, but you can still walk around the moat.

And there’s also a tree tunnel, which I love (not too sure why, but any tree tunnel I absolutely love)!

You can also learn all about the herbs and vegetables that grow in the garden, and how the Tudors would have used these in their cooking and how they were used as medicines.

That was really fascinating.

I loved this place, I mean I always love exploring new places but this was just something else. It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen or explored recently. Even looking through the photos has brought back some great memories about this place.

So the fact that I was annoyed at the start due to a chip in my windscreen, to then being in a really good mood, just shows how great this place is.

There is so much history, and although I didn’t think it was actually that huge, it actually took us like over 2 hours to explore and take it all in.

Thankfully this place is only an hour(ish) away from home, so when all is safe and there is no more panic and negativity in this world, I know for sure that me and Luke will be coming straight back.

30 thoughts on “Little Moreton Hall”

  2. Little Moreton Hall looks so cute and adorable, it’s such a beautiful place 😁 I loved the long gallery so much it was all amazing and to learn about the history was tremendous. I can’t wait to go back there once it’s safe to do so. In truth honesty though from the picture of me and Isobel, we both had a fantastic time, despite the chip xx

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  3. I absolutely loved this place. Like you, I was almost sure it was going to fall down around us.

    It was so beautiful and we went on a bank holiday and they had so many fun things on for the children, it was brilliant x

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    1. It’s amazing how it looks like it’s falling down, but it is actually perfectly fine! I’ve seen some of the events that they’ve done in the past, never went to one though. But they looked liked great fun, particularly for people with children x

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  5. Of all the places you’ve written about that I’ve read so far, I think this is the one I’d want to visit the most. Built to impress indeed! It definitely looks a bit like a crooked house but it’s got so much character!

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    1. Obviously I love all the places I’ve been to, but to be honest, this one is definitely my favorite. It’s really great to hear that you would want to visit this place! A crooked house with character is a great way to describe it 😊

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    1. The Tudor period is a fascinating part of history, and it’s great when you can explore a place like this and get a good feel for what it would have been like back in that time period. Thanks for reading!

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    1. Oh yes, I completely agree with you about there being nothing better than a Tudor mansion – there’s just something really intriguing about them. And this one has so much charm and character, it’s easily one of my favourites!

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  9. Wow! Little Moreton Hall was built so many centuries ago. Pretty cool that it is still standing today. The architecture and styling is pretty interesting. It is a bummer that there was a chip on your windshield. The interior is pretty cool. Looks super old school!

    Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me

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    1. The best thing about this place is that it doesn’t look like it should still be standing – but somehow it’s still up and incredibly sturdy! It’s a great place to go and explore, the interior was just fascinating! Clearly I’m still annoyed about getting a chip in my car though haha!

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  11. What a crazy house! The architecture here is so unique. It looks so interesting from the outside but I also love your pics from the inside! And the “straight” leaning fireplace haha super cool!

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    1. The “straight” leaning fireplace was really cool! When we got told by the guide that it was in fact straight we could hardly believe it. But it just adds to all the charm and character that this place has. One of my favourites places, to be honest!

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  15. This looks super nice . Literally the first thing I noticed was the architect of the house. I love how you learned the history you’re picture are great. I wish I would stumble upon places like this lol. Seems like you enjoyed yourself !

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    1. This place certainly does stand out! It’s a great place, and we were so happy when we basically just came across it. I never know what to expect when we visit these types of places, but this is certainly one of my favourites!

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