Wigan Golf Club

Golf club with an interesting, moated club house formerly Arley Hall.

Moated site at Arley Hall, Haigh near Wigan

The moated site at Arley Hall is well preserved in spite of the construction of an 18th century gothic manor on the island. The circular shape of the moat and its relative width make it an example of an unusual type for this region. The silts in the bed of the moat will preserve important organic remains of the occupation of the site. The garden and ground beneath the house will have evidence of the medieval hall which originally stood on this island.

The moat is nearly circular and completely surrounds a later house with a small garden. The house bears a datestone 1327, but this is almost certainly a fiction of the 18th century when the present house was remodelled into a gothic style country house. The platform would originally have been the site of a medieval hall building.

An iron bridge connects the house to the opposite bank of the moat on the west side. The moat is waterfilled and the banks are revetted with dry stone, except on the north side where 15m of the outer bank has been rebuilt using mortared stone. The bank has been raised at this point by 0.75m to support the golf tee behind. The moat is 20m wide and about 1.5m deep in the centre. The banks have been built out into the moat at the point where the bridge crosses to the island. The house is partly cellared but the garden is a sloping lawn, showing that the original platform was formed by putting the spoil from the moat excavation into the middle to make a raised island.

The moat is currently fed from the canal which passes the site on the east side. The outflow is in a modern culvert on the north side and any trace of the original water management system has been lost. The surrounding land forms a golf course created in 1898 which has obscured the remains of the original farming landscape. The moat and the house garden are included in the scheduling. The house and the iron bridge are excluded, although the ground beneath them is included.

Created: 11  January  2021  Edited: 29  November  2023