The Stockport Heritage Trust have very kindly produced this local history feature for readers. Stay tuned for more!

By Jill Trumble

Underbank Hall was the townhouse of the Ardernes of Harden. The Ardernes owned land as far back as 1371 and settled in Bredbury. The hall dates to 1497 and would have had gardens stretching down to the river. It is an example of the half-timbered style that was typical in Cheshire. 

The two rooms, entrance hall, upper rooms and attic are untouched and the old beams and flooring above are in their original state. The wattle and daub on the exterior has been replaced by more durable materials. Four fireplaces remain. The one in the present banking hall was part of the dowry of Eleanor Done of Utkington Hall when she married into the family in 1623. The others were put in over time, one is Elizabethan, one by Grinling Gibbons and the other is an Adam fireplace. A stained glass hunting scene was revealed on the second floor after a fire at the neighbouring building in 1968.

An inventory taken in 1619 from the will of Marie Arderne shows how extensive the premises were. It included a hall, dining room, kitchen, two parlours, a brewhouse, a buttery and a milk house as well as six chambers with bedding, some of which had curtains at the windows. The tax return of 1820 confirms its great size with 69 windows. It had fishing rights to the river. 

However when in 1823, William Arden, the second Baron Alvaney inherited the estates from his uncle, the hall was sold and the lands and premises in Bredbury were disposed of two years later by the profligate William. He spent his life in London where his lavish lifestyle and gambling debts had been financed by the family estate, but he now needed more cash to carry on his way of life. He was a regency dandy and a popular member of the Prince Regent's inner circle, regarded as one of the wittiest men in London and was friends with Beau Brummel. 

The hall was intended to be purchased by the manorial council for use as a Town Hall but they were thwarted by the offer of 3000 guineas from John Kenyon Winterbottom, W. Miller-Christie, I. Lloyd and J. Worsley for it to be used as a bank that opened in 1829 and so it remains today.

In 1840, Winterbottom owed the bank £3500 which was raised from an early loan. A file for bankruptcy was issued and he fled the town after several forgeries he had committed were discovered. 

Rumours abounded as to where he had gone, but he was recognised four years later by a Stockport man on a visit to Liverpool. He was convicted of the forgery and sentenced to transportation for life to Australia. 

Following the practice at the time, he was granted a ticket of leave in 1855 and two years later was appointed town clerk of Hobart, where in 1867 it was revealed that he had sold off £400 of council money and kept the proceeds. The money was never refunded and he spent two years in prison. He died in Hobart aged 80 in 1872.

The building was enlarged in 1881 with a banking hall at the rear and a new banking hall was built to replace the nineteenth century one in 1916. The stained glass windows represent the coats of arms for Stockport, the county of Chester, the borough of Lancaster, the District Bank, the city of Liverpool, the duchy of Lancaster and the city of Manchester.

The hall was grade II listed in 1952.

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Those interested in learning more about Stockport's heritage can visit the heritage centre Tuesday 11am – 2pm and Saturday 10.30 – 2pm. The centre is situated inside St. Mary's Parish Church, Market Place, on the left hand side past the cafe. 

The heritage trust also opens the former courthouse and dungeon to the public on the second Saturday of every month, from 10.30am until 3.30pm, or when the last visitor leaves.

The trust's website can be found HERE.