Venue Type & Location
Overview
Situated 2 miles from Ormskirk, not far from the main road N. 'The building itself was of vast extent, with a massive keep -- the Eagle Tower -- rising in the midst, and surrounded by embattled curtain walls, strengthened by seven lofty towers, the whole being encircled by a wide ditch or moat, across which access was gained by a drawbridge communicating with a portcullised gateway' (Croston, County Families 86). Principal house of the Stanleys until its destruction in the Civil War when the family removed to the Isle of Man. A fortified castle, Lathom seems to have had a number of towers, which accounts give variously as 7, 9 or 11 in number.
Performance History
Stanley household accounts for Lathom survive for only a short time in the later 16th c. (1586--90) when Henry, 13th Earl of Derby, and his family were periodically in residence.
Current Status
History of the Venue
ca. 1385 Sir John Stanley I acquired Lathom via marriage to Isabel, daughter of Sir Thomas Lathom. 1459--95 Old manorial hall pulled down by Thomas Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby, to clear the way for a new building. The visit to Lathom by Henry VII in 1495 provides a latest date for construction.
1645 Besieged and taken by parliamentary forces. Large portions dismantled in 1646.
ca. 1660 Reconstruction by Charles, 17th Earl of Derby.
late 17th c. Further reconstruction by William, 18th Earl of Derby.
ca. 1717 Lathom sold by the 18th Earl of Derby's daughter and heir, Henrietta, to Henry Furness.
1724 Henry Furness sold Lathom to Sir Thomas Bootle.
1725--30 The present Lathom House was built by Sir Thomas Bootle with architect Giacomo Leoni, probably as an extension of the older house.
1857--76 Extensive renovations and additions in the Palladian style.
1925 Main block demolished, leaving only 2 domestic wings (one demolished ca. 1960) and a 19th c. stable block.
Record Source
REED Lanc 179--84
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
- Croston, James. County Families of Lancashire and Cheshire. London: John Heywood, 1887
- George, David, ed. Lancashire. Toronto, Buffalo, London: U of Toronto P, 1991
- George, David, ed. Lancashire. Toronto, Buffalo, London: U of Toronto P, 1991
- Lewis, Jennifer. 'Lathom House: The Northern Court.'. Journal of the British Archaeological Association 152 (1999): 150--71.
- Lewis, Jennifer. The Medieval Earthworks of the Hundred of West Derby: Tenurial Evidence and Physical Structure. Oxford: John & Erica Hedges, 2000
- Mackenzie, James D. The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896
- 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.
- Robinson, John Martin. A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West. London: Constable, 1991
- Roby, John. Traditions of Lancashire. 2 vols. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1872
- The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster. 8 vols. London: Archibald Constable, 1906--14
- Wright, G.N. Lancashire: Its History, Legends and Manufactures. London: Fisher, Son & Co., 1843