A SECTION of historic Smithills Hall has reopened to visitors after a £500,000 refurbishment.

The Devey wing of the Grade 1 listed hall, named after Victorian architect George Devey, was officially opened by Bolton Council leader Cllr Clifford Morris.

As part of the work, the original flooring, oak panelling and fireplace have been exposed and sympathetically restored.

The restoration was funded with money raised by the sale of some of the land on the Smithills Estate, which was bought by The Woodland Trust in 2015.

The newly restored Devey Wing is going to be used for meetings, conferences, and weddings. The Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Roger Hayes, said: “Smithills Hall is known as the jewel in the crown in Bolton’s heritage so it is probably one of the nicest buildings in the town and it is very attractive to everyone living in this area.

“Every time we bring a bit more of it back in to use, it can be seen and appreciated, I think all the residents absolutely love it. They have done a great job with this, it looks absolutely superb.”

The rest of Smithills Hall remained open throughout the restoration, which took approximately six weeks longer than anticipated.

Emma Corless, community network manager at Bolton Library and Museum, said: “It was a really smooth transition. Spie UK, which conducted the development, worked so closely with us and kept us up to date.

"The whole project was conservation led. It was done very sensitively to make sure that it retained its original features.”

Stephen Taylor, operations director for the north department of Spie UK, said: “From a Spie point of view working with the council and our architects, the transition and transformation of the property went really well. Obviously with all historic buildings it was what we’re going to find behind the plasterboard that existed and I think what has come out of it really well is that we have maintained virtually all the original features of the building. There was some hiccups with restoring the flooring.That let to a slight delay but ultimately, everything has been put back as was. There has been very little new products used across the piece and from a Spie point of view what it shows for us is that our expertise in historic heritage works.”

The council hopes the rooms will be used for wedding ceremonies, meetings and seminars.