File:Thurnham Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1675790.jpg

English: Thurnham Hall, near to Thurnham, Lancashire, Great Britain. In the 12C William de Thurnham granted land to the hospital of Cockersand Abbey, and after the Dissolution the abbey lands were acquired by the Thurnham estate. Meanwhile the estate passes by descent to various families until 1556, after which it was the seat of the Dalton Family for over four centuries. However this was because although Elizabeth Dalton married William de Hoghton their son John changed his name to Dalton. Both families were staunch Roman Catholics, the Daltons being descendants of St Thomas More. In 1823 the front of the 16C house was refaced in Gothic style, with angle turrets and a one-storey central projection serving as a porch. The oldest part of the building is the 13C pele tower, and there are old mullioned windows at the back of the building. There is a priest hide behind the fireplace of the main bedroom. In the Great Hall there is Elizabethan plasterwork on the ceiling and frieze. The private chapel was built by Miss Elizabeth Dalton, Lady of the manor, in 1845. The house, which had been much neglected and damaged by a fire in 1959, was restored by Mr S H Crabtree, a business man, from 1973. It later became a time-share resort, and is now owned by Diamond Resorts. Apart from the suites in the house, there are bungalows and blocks of flats in the grounds. ('Thurnham Hall History' and Pevsner)