'Historic gem' goes up for sale

Manchester's oldest building on the market with potential as pub, hotel or restaurant

- NEAL KEELING

IT may blossom into the region's most impressive boutique hotel - but there is a bit of work to do first. It is a Grade I listed building, set in two acres, and has a timber-framed great hall.

Baguley Hall is Manchester's oldest building which is thought to date from the late 13th century. Now it is on the market. Described in Parliament as "one of the most important timber framed houses in Europe", it sits in the middle of Wythenshawe.

Originally a manor house it is on a site lived on since Anglo Saxon times. A working farm until the 1930s, it was saved from demolition 50 years ago through a public petition and the efforts of the late local MP, Alf Morris, later Lord Morris of Manchester, who made a passionate plea in Parliament.

Mr Morris urged the government to save 'one of the finest timber buildings in Europe, whose demolition would be emphatically contrary to the best interests of Manchester and Great Britain.'

Now it has been put on the market by property agents Colliers on behalf of Historic England. Colliers is inviting offers to buy the freehold or a leasehold.