New Hall moated site

New Hall moated site stands in Tyldesley, part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. A scheduled monument, it features a rectangular island surrounded by a moat between 20 and 30 metres wide. The moat is deepest at the south-west corner where water drains into a nearby stream. On the south side, stone revetments once held the bank but now only fragments remain. A modern stone bridge now crosses the moat where a timber bridge once stood. The island itself measures 60 metres by 40 metres and rises 0.4 metres above the surrounding land. The site dates back to before 1422 when it belonged to Thomas Tyldesley. A feud between the Tyldesleys and the Hultons ended in 1422 when Roger Hulton gave up any claim to the land. By 1692 the hall was occupied by Henry Marsh, who served as overseer of the poor. In 1716 it was described as a mansion house and leased to a widow named Heyes. By 1742 the tenant was farmer Thomas Smith, and in 1838 Lord Francis Edgerton owned the property. Visitors find a quiet green space where the moat still holds water. The island shows signs of past buildings beneath the modern house. A ruined post-medieval farmhouse once covered a third of the island until 1983. The moat retains environmental traces of its medieval past. The modern bridge and house sit beside the older stonework, linking past and present. The site offers a glimpse of how the hall once stood in its parkland near Damhouse.