Description:A watercolour of Biddulph Old Hall with the inscriptions “Biddulph Old Castle” and “Drawn by J.B. March 28th 1874”. It has been suggested that ‘J.B.’ is James Bateman (1811-1897) of nearby Biddulph Grange.
Biddulph Old Hall is the remains of a mansion constructed in the 1580s for Francis Biddulph. It was built around a smaller stone-built building dating from around 1425-1430 which was probably a hunting lodge. It was a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil war and came under siege by the Parliamentarians in 1643 when the east range was destroyed. The Biddulph family continued to live in a restored part of the hall until 1835, but in much reduced circumstances. In 1862 the Old Hall was sold to James Bateman of Biddulph Grange. In 1871 he sold the whole estate but left his youngest son, the artist Robert Bateman, with a life tenancy of the Old Hall and he lived there until his death in 1922. Since the early 2000s a programme of restoration of the Old Hall and its grounds has been underway.