Lawton Hall

This 17th century hall is located at Church Lawton, about 3 miles east of Alsager.

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Letter from John Lawton (26 Feb 01)

I was up until about 18months ago the owner of Lawton Hall it having been passed to me by my father approx. 10years ago. It was never sold to property developers.

The Hall and surrounding estate has been in the ownership of the Lawton Family since it's construction. The land on which the Hall is sited has been owned by the Lawton family (except for the odd political/religious hiatus) for many centuries and certainly back to the 12th Century.

Sadly the school closed due to financial difficulties and I have been trying since then to put in place a scheme, firstly for the preservation and more recently for the restoration of the Hall. This I am delighted to say has now been achieved through the sale of the Hall (for £1!) to the Rural Buildings Preservation Trust.

The RBPT are a charitable trust with the objective of saving historic buildings. They have succeeded where others have failed in getting permission for a limited enabling development that will enable the restoration of the Hall. Almost everyone should gain from this scheme although I hastened to add I personally only have significant financial loss and many sleepless nights, I will gain from seeing my family home put back on the map and not lost forever like so many other similar buildings.

The current sad state of the Hall is I am afraid evidence of the hopeless planning system in the UK. It is unfair to blame local planning officers, although I do feel they are partially to blame. The real problem lies in the need to balance the desire of many to maintain historic buildings, with the need to protect the countryside from inappropriate and unnecessary development. To do this needs the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of a Saint! These qualities are not found in many people.

I am delighted that Lawton Hall will now be restored and put to some use. I am very upset that the Hall had to deteriorate to such an appalling condition leading to the loss of it's unique interior. I am concerned that the Church Lawton community has had to put up with all the problems that the derelict Building has brought and I hope that this will now be brought to an end with the Hall being restored/rebuilt.

John Lawton

N.B. Para 2 refers to a previous statement on this page which has now been deleted.