PLANS have been revealed to knock down an old school building that dates back to the late 1800s.

An application was submitted by charity Birtenshaw to demolish Birtenshaw Old Hall in Bromley Cross, a building that has stood in its present state since 1864, when it was rebuilt.

Birtenshaw School was based in the building until it moved into the new premises nearby in 2014.

According to a statement from Birtenshaw submitted with the application, the building costs the school around £50,000 per year to secure and maintain.

It said: "It has recently become subject to vandalism and theft and as a consequence requires 24-hour security on the site which is making further significant financial demands on the school.

"Consequently the demolition of the site will save the school significant costs in terms of upkeep. It will also remove a building that is becoming increasingly unsecure and dangerous due to it acting as a magnet for anti-social behaviour on the site.

"The school are concerned that this is now a dangerous site that is positioned close to the new school for children with special education needs and disabilities.

"Consequently, while a new proposal for the site is currently being developed by the school, it is felt that it is important to demolish the existing building, making safe the site and removing the current focus of theft and vandalism that now occurs on the site."

The history of the site dates back to the 1500s but the current version of the hall was built in 1864.

Research carried out by the school stated that from the late 1500s there was a house on the site held from the Lord of the Manor John Orrell of Turton Tower.

The first documented occupiers were farmers Thomas and Anne Hough.

After Mr Hough died in 1623, Thomas Lightbowne, a member of a wealthy family in Bolton and Halliwell, acquired the lease from Mr Orrell.

His son Thomas then rented the property to tenants until he leased the house to John Battersby in 1664 or 1665, who married Mr Lightbowne's daughter Alice.

Their son, also John Battersby, was the heir of the estate but after he died in 1740 his assets were given to his nieces and nephews, with Birtenshaw left to his nephew John Ashworth.

The estate remained in the possession of the Ashworths until 1954.

In 1955, the building was in use as a residential school and was altered and extended.

The school then left the building in 2014 after a new school was built on an adjacent site in Darwen Road.

For more information on the planning application, search for reference number 00888/17 at bolton.gov.uk