First depicted on the 1692 map of Dukinfield manor, but the earliest documentary reference to the site occurs in the will of Robert Duckenfield of 1691.

QUOTE Left to “my son to have one bed and the furniture thereunto belonging standing in my chamber at my house called GORSES”.

It is not clear what the status of Gorses was in the 17th century, a hunting lodge farm or second home for the Duckenfield family.

In 1849, Gorse Old Hall is recorded as one building, but in 1894, it is shown as two buildings.

The current ruinous hall structure comprises a western wing with a centrally placed inglenook fireplace, and the eastern wing shows a 17th-century fireplace.

Archaeological and structural evidence confirms that the earliest part of the Old Gorse Hall complex is the western wing, suggesting a 16th-century date.

The University of Manchester Archaeological Unit undertook the survey and excavation work at Old Gorse Hall, Dukinfield, on behalf of the Friends of Gorse Hall during