Wythenshawe Hall is a dramatic timber-framed Tudor house set amid beautiful gardens.
Today the historic building houses a fine collection of paintings and drawings administered by the City Art Galleries.
The original house was built by Robert Tatton in around 1540 on the site of a medieval building. During the English Civil War, the Royalist Robert Tatton defended Wythenshawe Hall against a siege by Parliamentarian troops. When the house fell it was confiscated by the Parliamentarians but a few years later was returned to the Robert Tatton on the payment of a substantial fine.
Over the next four centuries the hall was enlarged by fourteen generations of the Tatton family.
However, in 1926 the hall and estate of 2,500 acres of farmland were sold to Lord Ernest Simon of Wythenshawe, who immediately donated them to the City of Manchester.
The Hall became an art gallery and several of the historic rooms were opened to the public including the Dining Room and the Withdrawing Room.
There is also a new display illustrating the history of the house and the Tatton family.
To the rear of the building are charming Victorian gardens and facing the Hall is a monument to Oliver Cromwell, whose troops occupied the property in 1644.
The rest of the estate was used to provide new housing for the people of Manchester.
Designed in the 1930s the Wythenshawe Housing Estate was one of the largest 'garden cities' in Europe.
The 270 acres of Wythenshawe Park became a recreational area for south Manchester and for the residents of the housing estate in particular. As well as excellent walking there are numerous sporting attractions in the park including tennis courts and playing fields.
