Thornleigh House
THORNLEIGH HOUSE, SHARPLES PARK
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1388266
- Date first listed:
- 26-Apr-1974
- List Entry Name:
- Thornleigh House
- Statutory Address:
- THORNLEIGH HOUSE, SHARPLES PARK
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-03-13
- Reference:
- IOE01/03168/22
- Rights:
- © Mr David H Swain. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1388266
- Date first listed:
- 26-Apr-1974
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 30-Apr-1999
- List Entry Name:
- Thornleigh House
- Statutory Address 1:
- THORNLEIGH HOUSE, SHARPLES PARK
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THORNLEIGH HOUSE, SHARPLES PARK
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Bolton (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SD 70796 11794
Details
BOLTON
SD71SW SHARPLES PARK 797-1/2/207 (South side) 26/04/74 Thornleigh House (Formerly Listed as: SHARPLES PARK Salesian College, with garden terrace, steps and balustrade)
II
House, now in use by Salesian Community. 1868 with extensions and internal remodelling c1890. Original building by Henry Stead, architect, for Arthur Lemuel Briggs, a local cotton magnate. Brick with stone dressings and slate roof. EXTERIOR: 2 storey, long entrance front with principal rooms oriented along it, accessed from entrance hall and rear corridor. Entrance towards left, in porch with bulbous shafts to arched door with low-relief stone cupids etc. in spandrels. Balustraded parapet of porch continues over single storey extension housing dining room inglenook to the left, with leaded lights each side of the (now truncated) stack. Advanced 2-window range immediately to right of doorway with angle pilasters and paired 3-light mullioned and transomed windows with leaded lights to ground floor, and 2-pane sash windows above in stone architraves. Balustraded parapet. 2-window range set back to the right, with 2-pane sash windows in stone architrave on each floor, and advanced bay beyond (housing present library), with squared bay window to ground floor, and 4 windows above in stone architraves with segmental and triangular pedimented heads. balustraded parapet with central segmentally pedimented panel carrying coat of arms in low relief. Garden front comprises 2 gables divided by a narrow single-window range. Advanced right-hand gable has full-height bow window. Stilted arched brick heads to windows; corbelled brickwork in gable apex, dentilled brick string courses. To the rear of this range, the service wing is in a similar style, which is quite different from that of the entrance front, suggesting a different (and probably earlier) phase of building. INTERIOR: original layout survives almost unaltered, and many of the rooms contain elements of a rich late C19 decorative scheme, including the entrance hall with wall panelling and gilded frieze, ornate low relief timber piers to arcade, and inglenook fireplace with pent roof and copper fire hood. Inglenook fireplaces of a similar character also survive in
the library and the dining room. HISTORY: built as a private residence, the house was acquired by the Higher Education Committee of the Borough of Bolton in 1907 for use as a hostel for women trainee teachers, and was bought by the Salesians in 1923. (Bolton Journal, 26 December 1884, Pictorial Bolton Series, XXVII: Bolton; D.O'Connor: Golden Jubilee of Thornleigh College 1925-1975: Bolton: 1975-).
Listing NGR: SD7079611794
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 476264
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
O'Connor, D, Golden Jubilee of Thornleigh College 1925-1975, (1975)
Bolton Journal in Pictorial Bolton Series XXVII 26th December, (1884)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 18:15:14.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.