Lathom House

Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Lathom House
Location: near Ormskirk
County: Lancashire
Location Type: Town - near town at determined 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

No trace of the original structure remains and until late 20th c. excavations the original site was uncertain.

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 Dates Titles
Beaufort, Margaret 1443-1509 Duchess of , Countess of
Hastings, Anne 0-1550 Countess of
Stanley, Edward 1509-1572 Lord , 11th Baron , 4th Baron , 12th Earl of , Lord of the , Knight of the
Stanley, Ferdinando 1559-1594 13th Baron , 6th Baron , 14th Earl of , Lord of the
Stanley, Henry 1531-1593 Lord , 12th Baron , 5th Baron , 13th Earl of , Lord of the , Knight of the
Stanley, James 1607-1651 1st Baron , 16th Earl of , Lord of the
Stanley, Thomas 1433-1504 2nd Baron , Lord of the , Knight of the , 10th Earl of
Stanley, Thomas 1485-1521 3rd Baron , 11th Earl of , Lord of the , 10th Baron
Stanley, William 1561-1642 15th Earl of , Knight of the , Lord of the

Bibliographic Sources

  • Croston, James. County Families of Lancashire and Cheshire. London: John Heywood, 1887.
  • George, David, ed. Lancashire. Records of Early English Drama (REED). Toronto, Buffalo, London: U of Toronto P, 1991.
  • George, David, ed. Lancashire. Records of Early English Drama (REED). 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. British Archaeological Reports, British ser 310. 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.' . Region, Religion and Patronage: Lancastrian Shakespeare. Dutton, Richard, Alison Findlay and Richard Wilson, eds. Manchester and New York: Manchester UP, 2003.
  • Robinson, John Martin. A Guide to the Country Houses of the North West. London: Constable, 1991.
  • Roby, John. Traditions of Lancashire. 5th ed. 2 vols. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1872.
  • The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. 8 vols. London: Archibald Constable, 1906–14.
  • Wright, G.N. Lancashire: Its History, Legends and Manufactures. London: Fisher, Son & Co., 1843.