It has been suggested that the site of the Old Hall should be excavated to find the remains of the house; however, the landowner has dug it up.

It was erected during the reign of Edward VI and was built around a courtyard and entered by crossing a narrow bridge over a moat that surrounded the property.

A porch led to the great hall, which had a railed gallery along one side used to observe entertainments below.

Edmund Arrowsmith, who was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, was related to the Gerards on his mother's side, and after his execution in 1628 his hand was reportedly cut off and preserved at the Hall in a white silk bag; it was referred to as the 'holy hand'.

In 1651, Charles II travelled through Wigan and lodged at Bryn Hall on his way from Scotland to his ultimate defeat at the Battle of Worcester.