Alston Hall

Alston Hall
File:Alston Hall Adult Education College, Alston - geograph.org.uk - 536434.jpg
Location within the Borough of Ribble Valley
General information
Type	Country house
Architectural style	Victorian gothic
Town or city	Longridge, Lancashire
Country	England
Coordinates
Completed	c.1876
Owner	Lancashire County Council
Design and construction
Architect	Alfred Darbyshire
Website
www.alstonhall.com

File:The entrance tower of Alston Hall - geograph.org.uk - 855969.jpg

The entrance tower of Alston Hall

Alston Hall is a 19th-century Victorian gothic style country mansion located in Longridge (near Preston) in Lancashire, England. It is not to be confused with the 15th-century Alston Old Hall nearby.

History

Alston Hall, designed by the architect Alfred Darbyshire, was built c.1876 for John Mercer, a Newton-le-Willows colliery owner. It passed down to his granddaughter, who was a nun, and was then sold to the Eccles cotton manufacturing family who sold it in turn to William Birtwistle, another wealthy cotton industrialist. In 1949 the Birtwistles sold most of the land to the Church Commissioners and the Hall itself, together with the remaining three acres of land, to Preston Borough Council as a Day Continuation College. In 1974 it was purchased by Lancashire County Council and converted to an residential training centre.

Alston Hall is still owned and operated by Lancashire Adult Learning (part of Lancashire County Council) as an adult residential college and corporate event venue.

See also

• Lancashire College
• The Adult College, Lancaster