Venue Type & Location
Overview
Situated in a park on high ground 1.5 miles from Prescot and 7miles NE of Liverpool. The present L-shaped residence is mostly 18th and 20th c. but incorporates fabric from the earlier Tudor house in the S wing. The 2 red sandstone turrets and some fabric in the N facade of the S wing may be original.
Performance History
Stanley household accounts for Knowsley survive for only a short time in the later 16th c. (1586--90) when Henry, the 13th Earl of Derby, and his family were periodically in residence.
Current Status
History of the Venue
ca. 1385 Sir John Stanley I acquired Knowsley via marriage to Isabel, daughter of Sir Thomas Lathom.
late 15th c. Existing house remodelled and enlarged in stone by Thomas, 10th Earl of Derby, in anticipation of the visit of his stepson, Henry VII.
mid-16th c. Additions made by Edward, 12th Earl of Derby.
1645 Stanley estates sequestered by the parliamentarians. Knowsley was dilapidated by the end of the Civil War but became the family's principal residence.
Early 18th c. Tudor wing refurbished with new sash windows.
1731--6 The architect Henry Sephton designed a new 3-storey red brick E wing for the 19th Earl of Derby.
ca. 1820 Castellation, double colonnade and square tower with State Dining Room added to S facade by John Foster of Liverpool for Edward, 22nd Earl of Derby.
19th c. More rebuilding with the addition of extra storeys for bedrooms and Gothic features.
ca. 1860 William Burn employed to extend the N wing and build a classical block for libraries and conservatories; outer hall added to the entrance front.
late 19th c. Chapel demolished. Vast central tower with new principal staircase added, further extension of the original Tudor wing.
1905--12 Remodelling of later additions in Georgian style by architects Romaine-Walker and Besant.
1953--4 Further neo-Georgian remodelling by Claud Phillimore.
1960s--97 Much of the house let to the Liverpool Metropolitan Police for their headquarters.
1997 Renovations made when the family resumed residence.
Record Source
REED Lanc 179--82
Patrons who owned this venue
| Name | Date | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Beaufort, Margaret | 1443-1509 | Countess of Derby |
| Beaufort, Margaret | 1443-1509 | Countess of Richmond |
| Beaufort, Margaret | 1443-1509 | Duchess of Suffolk |
| Hastings, Anne | 0-1550 | Countess of Derby |
| Stanley, Edward | 1509-1572 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
| Stanley, Edward | 1509-1572 | Knight of the Garter |
| Stanley, Edward | 1509-1572 | Baron Stanley |
| Stanley, Edward | 1509-1572 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, Edward | 1509-1572 | Lord Strange |
| Stanley, Edward | 1509-1572 | Baron Strange (of Knokyn) |
| Stanley, Ferdinando | 1559-1594 | Baron Stanley |
| Stanley, Ferdinando | 1559-1594 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
| Stanley, Ferdinando | 1559-1594 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, Ferdinando | 1559-1594 | Baron Strange (of Knokyn) |
| Stanley, Henry | 1531-1593 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, Henry | 1531-1593 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
| Stanley, Henry | 1531-1593 | Baron Strange (of Knokyn) |
| Stanley, Henry | 1531-1593 | Knight of the Garter |
| Stanley, Henry | 1531-1593 | Baron Stanley |
| Stanley, Henry | 1531-1593 | Lord Strange |
| Stanley, James | 1607-1651 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
| Stanley, James | 1607-1651 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, James | 1607-1651 | Baron Strange |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1485-1521 | Baron Mohun |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1433-1504 | Knight of the Garter |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1433-1504 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1433-1504 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1433-1504 | Baron Stanley |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1485-1521 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1485-1521 | Baron Strange (of Knokyn) |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1485-1521 | Baron Stanley |
| Stanley, Thomas | 1485-1521 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, William | 1561-1642 | Earl of Derby |
| Stanley, William | 1561-1642 | Knight of the Garter |
| Stanley, William | 1561-1642 | Lord of the Isle of Man |
Bibliographic Sources
- Chapman, Margaret G. Lancashire Halls. Newcastle upon Tyne: Frank Graham, 1971
- Churchill, Randolph S. Fifteen Famous English Homes. London: Derek Verschoyle, 1954
- Fleetwood-Hesketh, Peter. Lancashire Architectural Guide. London: John Murray, 1955
- George, David, ed. Lancashire. Toronto, Buffalo, London: U of Toronto P, 1991
- Hoult, James. The Vill, Manor and Township of Knowsley. Liverpool:
- Hussey, Christopher. 'Knowsley Hall, Lancashire: A Seat of the Earl of Derby.'. Country Life 83 (13 March 1937): 276--81.
- Lewis, Jennifer. The Medieval Earthworks of the Hundred of West Derby: Tenurial Evidence and Physical Structure. Oxford: John & Erica Hedges, 2000
- MacLean, Sally-Beth. 'A Family Tradition: Dramatic Patronage by the Earls of Derby.'. Manchester and New York: Manchester UP, 2003 Region, Religion and Patronage: Lancastrian Shakespeare 205--26.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. Lancashire: I. The Industrial and Commercial South. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1969
- Pollard, William. The Stanleys of Knowsley: A History of that Noble Family. London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1869
- Raines, F.R.. The Stanley Papers. Part III: Private Devotions and Miscellanies of James, seventh Earl of Derby, K.G.. 2 vols. Manchester: Chetham Society, 1867
- Robinson, John Martin. A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West. London: Constable, 1991
- The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster. 8 vols. London: Archibald Constable, 1906--14