Friday Photo: Lifford Hall

Today’s Friday photo is Lifford Hall in Kings Norton. Before the grade II listed hall was built in 1604, the site is believed to have contained an ecclesiastical building possibly dating from Saxon times.  It is known that as of 1781, Lifford Hall was home to James Hewitt, a man who originally from Coventry, became the Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1768 and the first Viscount Lifford. Upon his death it was bought by Thomas Dobbs, an engineer that had been involved in the construction of the nearby Birmingham to Worcester and the Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon canals.

There have been ongoing changes to the hall; In the 1800s there was a mill within the grounds, during this time the main dining room extension and the octagonal tower folly you can see to the left of the photo were also added. There followed a renovation in the 1950s which included the addition of a recreation room, the building is now used as offices. Within the grounds today you can see evidence of the sites former uses in the remains of old sandstone foundations and two underground tunnels beneath the front lawn.