Sitting amongst the trees just a stones throw away from Salford Royal Hospital, you’ll stumble across the beautiful Buile Hill Mansion.
Once home to Manchester’s very first Mayor and Co-Founder of the Manchester Guardian, Thomas Potter, the historic building has had a long and varied history, with many strong links to important historical figures.
LS Lowry frequented the park surrounding the mansion before making steps with his art, as well as famed children’s writer and Author of ‘The Secret Garden’, Frances Hodgson Burnett, but this wasn’t until after 1903 when it was sold to Salford Corporation and was officially opened the to public on 22nd July.
Since then, the mansion has been used as a natural history museum, the central location for Salford’s pageants of the 1930s and, during the first world war, it was used as a base for military purposes.
Now, after lying empty for over 20 years, the historic Grade II-listed building is set to benefit from an extra £270,000 towards its restoration.
Buile Hill Mansion is the subject of plans to bring it back into sustainable use, with the proposal outlining that the restored mansion will include a café bar, function room, community meeting room and public toilets on the ground floor.
Salford City Council
It will also host civil wedding ceremonies along with the registration of births, deaths and marriages on the upper two floors. The mansion is expected to re-open in 2024.
Councillor, Mike McCusker approved a contribution of £271,816.20 at the planning and sustainable development meeting, with the money coming from Section 106 contributions provided by developers.
Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett said: “The project to restore Buile Hill Mansion continues and this extra funding will go towards bringing it back to sustainable use. Overall the project is expected to cost over £5.5m.
Salford City Council
“The £270,00 awarded from Section 106 money will be used to fund design and feasibility work which are absolutely essential before we can progress to a planning application and procurement of the works.
“The council has been working closely with Buile Hill Mansion Association and I would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication as we work on this project. I cannot wait until works are complete and we can officially open the mansion to the public once again.”
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