Ollery Hall Farm
The present day Ollery Hall Farm was built c. 1871. However, there is evidence that a different building existed on this site before then as well as information to suggest a change of name has taken place over the years…
First, let’s look at the meaning of the word ‘Ollery’ :
Ancestry UK has a feature which explains the potential meanings of surnames :
If we look at the 1847 Ordnance Survey map, we can see ‘Aldery Hall’ rather than Ollery Hall and the name of the road it is situated on was Holt Lane, rather than Plumpton Lane, which is the name of that lane today.
Referring to the Ancestry explanation above, it could be suggested that Aldery Hall was situated near to Alder trees and therefore that was where the name came from.
According to the Woodland Trust, the Alder tree is a ‘swamp-dweller, water-lover. The wood of this tough tree doesn’t rot when waterlogged, instead turning stronger and harder’. Which would explain why Alder trees were growing in this vicinity, being close to the stream and the 3 meres, Gettern Mere especially. Alder (Alnus glutinosa) – British Trees – Woodland Trust
Although, if we look at the Hennet map of 1828, we notice that part of the area around here is referred to as Elder Hale. Elder, of course, being a different species of tree entirely.
However, a ‘hale’ is a flat piece of land close to a river or other such water – so maybe Elder Hale meant Elder trees growing on alluvial land (bearing in mind that the mossland of Halsall was once flooded).
Ten years earlier, the Greenwood map of 1818 does not provide either name, although a building can be seen on the map in the vicinity of the present day Ollery Hall Farm, it is more likely to have been Ollery Cottage ( the building dot nearest the cross roads of Carr Moss Lane and Plumpton Lane). Note also that Carr Moss Lane doesn’t go much further past Gettern Mere and the continuation of the road to Ainsdale (Segars Lane) does not exist at all!
With Lancashire County Council’s Mario mapping system we can merge the 1847 OS map with a modern map. The light grey modern (1871) buildings are approximately one field’s width distant, in a south west to a north easterly relocation from the earlier Aldery Hall of 1847. Also note the old BM ( Bench Mark) of 0.0 at Aldery Hall, meaning it was at sea level. Whereas the newer buildings have a BM of 13.3 feet. Perhaps this was a better location on the Halsall Moss to rebuild on?
So at some point between 1847 and 1871, Aldery Hall farm became Ollery Hall farm. We know this because when tenant farmer, Charles Howard died, his headstone in St. Cuthbert’s church referred to him as ‘Charles Howard of Ollery Hall’. Maybe the Howard family renamed the farm Ollery Hall Farm when they moved in there in 1871?
Further evidence in the form of census records show the name Ollery Hall; the Howards in 1901 and John Dickinson in 1939 were referring to the farm using this name.
And finally, in 2018 the current owner purchased the property as Ollery Hall Farm and the name remains to this day.
For this property — originally a tenanted farm leased by the Church Commissioners as part of the Halsall Estate— we have successfully identified every consecutive farming family.
Margaret Ferguson, wife of William Richard Cunnington has an interesting life story before she lived at the farm (1924 to 1961).
And we have life stories of some of the employed farming labourers at Ollery Hall Farm.
Irish labourers inc Martin Lyons, Thomas Guilfoyle, Michael Lyons, Thomas Duffy and John Fitzmaurice c. 1891 – 1939
