Home Farm
Your are in:
Home
>
History & Architecture
>
Home Farm
Sir Thomas Egerton's family would have dined almost exclusively
on food produced on the Heaton Estate, much of it from within the park.
Home Farm was situated behind the stables and pleasure ground and an
1813 inventory shows that the stock included a small herd of Scottish
cattle, sheep and pigs and a valuable quantity of barley, oats, wheat
and hay in addition to working horses and carts.
The problem of
bringing the cattle over the ha-ha and into the farm for milking was
overcome by building an ornamental bridge flanked by large rockeries at
the narrowest point in the pleasure grounds leading almost directly
into the farmyard. A range of hothouses in this area provided exotic
fruit and ponds in the park would have been well stocked with fish.
The Stable Block, now known as the Farm Centre, is the most important
in the set of buildings dedicated to serving the more practical needs
of the family. Samuel Wyatt built it in 1777 for £2,225 and its design
is similar to the stables at Tatton where he also worked.
The Farm Centre now houses the park's administrative offices, a café
and classroom. Large animals are also on display in the courtyard.
The farmhouse and dairy, currently unused, are situated to the north of
the stables and further on is the kitchen garden where vegetables for
the house were grown. This is now known as the Horticultural Centre and contains small display gardens and plant sales. The Friends of Heaton Park also hold coffee mornings here.
The historical content of this page has been written with reference to the following publications:
1. Transactions of Lancashire & Cheshire
Antiquarian Society (1983) - The 1st & 2nd Earls of Wilton and the
Creation of Heaton House by James Lomax MA. Vol 82 Moxon Press Ltd,
Ilkley
2. Heaton Hall: A Short Account of its History &
Architecture. Manchester City Council Cultural Services Dept,
Manchester City Art Galleries, 1984.
More information about Heaton and the Wilton Estate can be found in the Greater Manchester County Record Office.