Built / Designed For: Purney Sillitoe
House & Family History: Early 19th century Pell Wall Hall is the last completed house designed by Sir John Soane. Faced in the native Grinshill sandstone, the house was built for local iron merchant Purney Sillitoe at a total cost of £20,976 (approximately £15 million in 2012 inflation-adjusted values using the labour value commodity index). After Sillitoe's death Pell Wall was inherited by Marten Harcourt Griffin, who, between 1872 and 1875, added the south wing and completely remodeled the interiors. In 1901 the estate was purchased by Liverpool brewer James Munroe Walker, who made the house his seat until 1917. In 1928 the Brothers of Christian Instruction purchased the Pell Wall Hall Estate, initially using the house as a theological college, later converting it for use as a boys' boarding school. Pell Wall was abandoned in 1962 and left to deteriorate until May of 1986, when it was gutted by a fire that burned for three days. In 1988 the local authority took ownership of Pell Wall under a compulsory purchase order and subsequently sold it to the Pell Wall Preservation Trust for £1. Between 1989 and 1999, with the help of SAVE Britain's Heritage, the Victorian and Edwardian additions were removed and John Soane's original design was restored using a £1 million grant from English Heritage and a loan from the Architectural Heritage Fund. In November 2009 Pell Wall Hall, together with four acres of grounds, was sold for £580,000 to Bernard Goodwin, who has restored the house in sympathy with Sir John Soane's original drawings.
Comments: Pell Wall is considered one of Sir John Soane's finest country houses.
House Listed: Grade II*
Park Listed: Grade II
Current Seat / Home of: Bernard Goodwin
Past Seat / Home of: Purney Sillitoe, 19th century. Marten Harcourt Griffin, late 19th century. James Munroe Walker, early 20th century.
Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No