Ryecroft Hall was built in 1849 by James Buckley, a wealthy family man who owned the Cotton Mills at Ryecroft. The Hall took several years to build, with all the necessary comforts of a Victorian gentleman; a library, large dining room, study, billiard room, ballroom, sitting rooms, bedrooms and servant’s quarters. The outbuildings had stables and coach houses. Many of the rooms still have the original wood panelling and very ornate ceilings, which are still in existence.
James Buckley and his brother Abel were cotton manufacturers owning Ryecroft and Oxford Road Mills near St Peter’s church Ashton. The Buckley’s were a wealthy family, and as you look around Ryecroft Hall, you will see James intended to live in some style. The Hall took several years to build, with all the necessary comforts of a Victorian gentleman; a library, large dining room, study, billiard room, ballroom, sitting rooms, bedrooms and servant’s quarters. The outbuildings had stables and coach houses. Many of the rooms still have the original wood panelling and very ornate ceilings, which are still in existence.
James Buckley had died in 1851 with the hall still unfinished, and it was inherited by his son also a James, who then sold it to his brother William Smith Buckley who lived in the luxury of the hall until he died in 1877. In 1885 the hall was passed on to Abel Buckley, William’s cousin. (Another Abel!) Abel lived at Ryecroft Hall for 22 years; he was a wealthy man interested in collieries, hotels, and banks and retained interests in cotton mills at the start of his wealth. He was a Congregationalist and gave large amounts of money to build the Albion Chapel in Ashton. (Was it built to be taller than the nearby Parish church, there was a lot of religious rivalry in the nineteenth century)