More information : [SD 4600 0912] Lathom House (Besieged in 1644-45) [T.I.] (1)
"At the death of Edward the Confessor, Lathom with a berewick
was held by Uctred ...... The berewick may have been the half of
Martin which had been incorporated with Lathom, or else
Ormskirk .....
.....The next lord of Lathom whose name is on record was
Siward son of Dunning, who held it in the thegnage about the time of
Henry II ....."(2)
Lathom House, moated mansion is "....believed to have been
erected as early as temp. Ed. I, and by Robert de Lathom,
formerly Latun or Lathun .... It possessed nine fine towers
flanking each other .... a wall 6 ft. thick, studded with
numerous turrets, a fence of strong and high palisades and a
moat 24 ft wide and 6 ft deep ....."(3)
"Leland, who visited the place about 1540 writes thus: 'Lathom,
most part of stone. The chiefest house of the Early of Derby.
Two miles from Ormskirk' ......"(a)
The house was besieged by Parliamentary forces in 1644, and again
in 1645 when it was almost destroyed. ".....two or three little
timber buildings being alone left to mark the spot of the
palatial mansion ...."(2)
"....a portion of the old chapel, of which the greater part .....
lies in the grounds, is known to have been incorporated in the
South front of the present hall, nearly opposite to which, and
not far from the entrance, several skeletons in recent years
have been found ......" Several carved stones belonging to the old
building have also been found, and east of the hall some
17th c. tobacco-pipes.(3)
The present Lathom House was built on or near the site of the
original between 1724 and 1734. The centre part of the house
was pulled down in 1925. The two wings now standing are
unoccupied property of the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board.
(4) (b) (2-4)
Similar information (5)
The present Lathom House is often said to stand on part of the
site of the old house, but this is at least doubtful. Seacome
describes the old building as standing upon marshy ground in a
hollow, whereas the present house is situated on fairly high
ground commanding an extensive view. Nothing now remains of the
old building, and no picture of it is known to exist, the
drawing by Roby in "Tradition" being purely imaginary; but if
Seacome's description of the site is correct it could not be
where the present building stands, and was more likely 1/2 ml.
to the south. In the grounds are many pieces of stone from the
old building, including the pieced up tracery of a large window.(6)
Bishop Rutter, who was resident at Lathom House throughout
the siege of 1644 describes it as standing on 'a flat, upon
moorish, springy and spumous ground ...' hidden from sight by
rising ground on the south and southwest, and north and east,
sides which sloped so abruptly down towards the mansion '...
that nothing [i.e. no cannon] planted against it on those
sides can touch it further than the front wall ...' The situation
of the original Lathom House is supposed to have been between the
northeast offices of the present mansion and the kitchen garden.(7)
[Name centred SD 46230907] Lathom House and site of [T.I.]
LATHOM HOUSE [G.T.] (8)
The old LATHOM HOUSE has completely disappeared and its site is
unknown. A shallow depression in front of the house is said to
be a moat but this is doubtful.
SEACOME'S description of the site seems to point to the house
being somewhere in the vicinity of the ditch called CROMWELL'S
TRENCH and about 1/2 mile from the present LATHOM HOUSE which
was built in the early 18th cent (9)
[Account of siege of LATHOM HOUSE] (10)
"LATHAM HOUSE stands upon a flat, upon a moorish, springy and
spumous ground, was encompassed with a strong wall of two yards
thick; upon the walls were nine towers, flanking each other, and
in every tower were pieces of ordnance, that played three one
way and three the other. Without the wall was a mote eight
yards wide and two yards deep ..... [also] ... a high strong
tower called the EAGLE TOWER in the middle of the house ....
and the gatehouse was also two high and strong buildings, with a
strong tower on each side of it."
[Includes a rather confused description of the situation of the
house, referring to it as a natural stronghold and compares it to
the palm of a man's hand, flat in the middle and with rising
ground about it. The rising ground is said to be so close to
the house that it ws not possible to use artillary to breach the
walls, presumably because the pieces could not be depressed
sufficiently]
The ninth earl of Derby erected a new front to LATHOM HOUSE but
died in 1702 before it was finished. His brother, the tenth earl,
who died in 1736, rebuilt the seat "in the modern way" (11)
[Mentioned. No details given] (12)
The present LATHOM HOUSE, only the two side wings of which
remain, is empty and delapidated. The architecture is of the
18th cent in the classical style. The information given by
authority (11) would indicate that a house existed here in
the late 17th cent and was rebuilt in the early 18th cent. The
situation on high ground commanding an extensive makes it
extremely unlikely that this is also the site of the house
involved in the sieges of 1644 and 1645, the position of which,
described by authorities (6)(7) & (11) was in a hollow.
In the grounds around the present house are scatters of stones
(some dressed) and both early and modern brick. Local enquiries
revealed that during the war of 1914-18 the site was occupied as
a remount depot with many buildings, since demolished, in the
grounds. Much of the material lying about probably came from
these buildings or the demolished central part of LATHOM HOUSE,
although some may be associated with the house that existed
before the rebuilding in the early 18th cent.
The possible moat referred to by authority (9) is about 150.0m
south of the house in a field now under the plough. In its
present state it consists of a wide shallow depression
oriented east and west and extending for about 60.0m. It is
18.0m wide with a maximum depth of 0.5m. There is no evidence
that it ever formed part of a moated enclosure. In the vicinity
of this depression there is a heavy scatter of occupational
debris, stone, brick, glass, pottery etc. The black earth in the
bottom of the depression suggests that it was once water filled
and may have been a pond forming part of some ornamental
ground.
The ground between the NE corner of the hall and the kitchen
garden, referred to by authority (7) as the supposed site of the
original LATHOM HOUSE, is on a NE slope. There are no traces of
building foundations and the situation in no way agrees with
that described by authorities (6)(7) and (11)
The only trace of the chapel referred to by authority (3) is a
small piece of window tracery lying with other stones about
150.0m SW of the house. This may have been part of a domestic
chapel incorporated with the house that existed before the early
18th rebuilding. There is no record of any pre-Reformation
chapel in this area except for that attached to the nearby
almshouses. (SD 40 NE 1)
Centred SD 46650844 The most likely site for the original LATHOM
HOUSE is about 900.0m SE of the present building. Here there is a
moated enclosure which incorporates the ditch called CROMWELL'S
TRENCH referred to by authority (9). The situation agrees in
every respect with that described by authorities (6) (7) and
(11) being in a marshy hollow with higher ground to the NE and
SW. The site is only really accessible from the NW where
there is lower ground.
The fortifications form a rectilinear figure the east and
north-east side of which is formed by 'CROMWELL'S TRENCH' a
deep, steep sided, artificial ditch. On the NW and SW sides the
defences consists of a deep, narrow ravine carrying a small
stream, and probably partly artificial. To the south is a
wide, high, bank which also appears to be partly artificial.
There is a trace of an outer ditch to this bank at one point.
The marshy ground on this side would be an additional defence.
The defences in their present state are strong but damming of the
stream where it leaves the north side of the enclosure would
make them even more formidable and would probably form a
continuous water obstacle. None of the present gaps in the
defences could be associated with an original entrance.
The interior of the enclosure is heavily overgrown with bracken,
bramble and bushes. The partial perambulation that was made
revealed no traces of any occupation. In view of the contemporary
descriptions of the house with its massive curtain wall, towers,
barracks and gatehouse the absence of any stonework is
remarkable and is the only doubtful feature in the association
of this site with the original LATHOM HOUSE.
The defences and situation are such that with a fairly high wall
inside the moat (authority (11) refers to a wall two yards thick
but gives no height) it would be very difficult for a gun with a
flat trajectory to hit any building within the enclosure.
Authority (7) states "that nothing (i.e. cannon) planted
against it on those sides (south and south-west, north and east)
can touch it further than the front wall".
Despite the absence of any stonework or building foundations it
is concluded that this moated enclosure is probably the site of
the original LATHOM HOUSE, destroyed in 1645. (13)
[Centred SD 46740845] EARTHWORK [G.T.] (Cromwellian)
[Part of the feature described by authority (13). Formerly
associated with the camp of the besieging forces. See SD40SE4] (14)
[OS 1st Edition shows one small building (not annotated) within
the area shown on plan in authority (13)] (15)
"Lathom Hall, near Ormskirk. The main part of this important
early Georgian mansion, which is one of the few surviving designs
by Leoni, was demolished about 30 years ago. Now the east
wing is to be demolished in the spring." (16)
Re-surveyed at 1/2,500. (17)
(SD 4666 0845) Moat (NR) (18)
SD 4666 0845. Earthworks in Spa Roughs Wood: medieval moated
site of Lathom House and/or Cromwellian fieldworks. Scheduled
RSM No 13406. (19)
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