Healey Hall - Rochdale

Original home work crowns restoration
by Michael Byrne

THE proud owner of Healey Hall has visited the grave of its original builder to help him add the finishing touches to its restoration.

Jason Stead has researched the crest of the Chaiiwick family, which built the hail in 1774 and had local sculptor Harry Simpson put it back above the main entrance.

This is the final piece of the jigsaw in a five year project which has seen Mr Stead scour the world for craftsmen and items to help restore the Georgian hail to its former glory He has also done a lot of the work himself.

To get the crest right he contacted the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies which told him to use the crest of John Chadwick, who built the hall.

It should depict the head of a talbot, a type a type of dog, pierced through the neck with an arrow and carry the words ‘STANS CUM REGE’ which is Latin for maintain the peace.

Mr Stead also travelled to the Chadwicks’ancient family seat in Mavesyn Ridware in Staffordshire, where he found the final resting place of John Chadwick and took photographs of his crest.

Fortune
He said: “The crest has parts of the emblem of many different families which shows how powerful the family was. “The Tweedale family took over the house and they got rid of the crest because they didn’t want another family’s crest over their door way.

“When I bought the house we could just see the rough outline of where the crest would
have been. Having got the design I asked a local sculptor Harry called Harry Simpson to restore it.”

Mr Simpson said: “I don’t get asked to do many family crests and it took me a couple of
weeks to do, but it was quite interesting to dosomething different like this.

Although the current house dates back to the 18th century there has been a Healey Hall Chadwick family since the 13th century. The family was originally called Heley, which is the Latin word for been restored to high pasture and over time it has become the the front door of district Healey which we know today

In the 15th century the Heleys married into the Chadwick family.

Mr Stead and his family live in Healey Hall and he is now busy restoring the 17th century Clegg Hall.