Editing Ordsall Hall (section)

==Architecture==
[[File:Ordsall Hall 2014 02.jpg|thumb|right|Ordsall Hall from the east, showing the south range to the left and the west range to the right]]
There are two separate elements to the present-day house: the timber-framed south range built in the 15th century, and the brick west range constructed in 1639. The hall was originally built around a central [[Quadrangle (architecture)|quadrangle]], but the other wings making up that space are no longer present. Drawing on the earliest description of the house, from 1380, [[Salford City Council]] describes how it comprised "a hall, five chambers, a kitchen and a chapel. It was associated with two stables, three granges, two [[barn|shippons]], a garner, a [[dovecote]], an orchard and a windmill, together with {{convert|80|acres}} of arable land and {{convert|6|acres}} of meadow."<ref name="SalfordHistoryHall"/>

[[File:Ordsall Hall, Star Chamber 2009.jpg|thumb|right|The Star Chamber, which takes its name from the lead stars on its ceiling, leads off the Great Hall; it and the solar above&nbsp;– a private upper room that would have contained a bed&nbsp;– are the oldest remaining parts of the hall.{{sfnp|Cooper|2005|p=92|ps=none}}]]

Substantial alterations appear to have taken place during the early years of Samuel Egerton's ownership in the mid-18th century. The canopy at the [[dais]] end of the Great Hall was destroyed&nbsp;– although part of it can still be seen in the north wall&nbsp;– when a floor was inserted and new rooms were formed with [[lath]] and plaster partitions. The east wing of the hall was probably demolished at about the same time, but certainly before 1812, the date of the earliest [[estate map]].<ref name="SalfordHistoryHall" />

There are believed to have been underground passages leading from the hall into Manchester. One, running under the [[River Irwell]] to the Hanging Bridge Hotel at the northern end of [[Deansgate]], was described in 1900, following the rediscovery of the [[Hanging Bridge]] after it had been buried for 200 years:
{{blockquote|...&nbsp;I was shown a door in Hanging Bridge Hotel cellar where the arches could be seen and a door made up&nbsp;... it was the entrance to an underground passage under the Irwell, possibly to Ordsall Hall&nbsp;... the owner had not traversed the passage himself, but the previous owner had, but had to turn back because of bad smells&nbsp;....{{sfnp|Cooper|2003|p=103|ps=none}}|Letter to the ''Manchester Guardian'', April 1900}}