[4] The present hall was built between 1827 and 1840[5] by James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, on the site of the ancient manor house.

Hard sandstone for the facing was brought by canal from quarries at Parbold and dressed on site using steam-driven saws specially designed by the earl.

[1] David Lindsay, 11th Earl sold the hall and grounds to Wigan Corporation in 1947 for £18,000 and moved to the family's original home at Balcarres House in Fife.

In 2019, however, Wigan Council took the decision to terminate the lease with Contessa Hotels after the firm failed to honour its terms.

[14] The five-storey hall has a square plan round a central light well and is built of brick faced with sandstone ashlar.

At ground-floor level is a central half-glazed door and 10 tall casement windows, designed by the earl, which open from the inside and have a small upper sash.

[8] The canted first, fifth and seventh bays are three storeys high with casements matching the ground floor of the front entrance.

The house was heated by hot air channelled through brass grilles in the skirting boards from seven stoves in the basement.

[5] Housed on the first floor of the hall was the Lindsay family's library, the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, whose origins may go back to the late 16th century at Balcarres in Fife.

[2] His son, James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford, in collaboration with his father, enlarged the library and continued to do so after inheriting the titles so that it became one of the largest private collections in Britain.

[20] Formal gardens established at the old hall in the early 18th century were illustrated in engravings by Knyff and Kip in 1707.

A 1750 painting attributed to Joseph Highmore showed modifications to the layout including a "Gothic eye-catcher", the "Observatory" made entirely of cannel,[21] on the hill crest to the east.

Terraces, including a parterre with geometrical divisions extending outwards from the hall on the hillside to the south and west, were swept away by 19th-century landscaping carried out by the 8th Earl.

Today the hall has a walled garden and woodland walks in the plantations which were part of the landscaping and extensive tree planting from the mid-19th century.

[23] On Wigan Lane is a pair of square ashlar lodges and a round-headed entrance arch in the Classical style probably built in 1840.

[27] The Great Haigh Sough, a 1,120 yards (1,020 m) tunnel to drain shallow coal pits, was driven under the estate between 1653 and 1670 by Sir Roger Bradshaigh.

[citation needed] The two-storey stable block of 1865 has been converted to the golf clubhouse and information center.