THE oldest house in Horwich has been restored and is on the market for £3m.

Known as the Colemans, the property is the first ever recorded dwelling in Horwich and was originally occupied by the Greenhalgh family in 1425.

Believed to have once been a former game keeper’s or hunting lodge the property, in Chorley Old Road, has since undergone a number of extensions and now boasts five bedrooms, a gym, cinema and steam room.

Stuart Whittle, of Horwich Heritage Centre said: “Colemans was part of the Royal Hunting Forrest of Horwich was one of a network of forests set up after the Norman conquest.

“They were owned by the Norman baron’s and in this case it was the Barons of Manchester. Coleman’s was probably a hunting lodge or forester’s dwelling and anyone found trespassing or poaching would be hung.”

“After the Greenhalgh family it was bought by the Ridgeway family.”

The Ridgeway family are known in history to have transformed Horwich from a small parish into the village it is known as today.

Mr Whittle added: “Horwich was, until the late 1700s, a small hamlet until the Ridgeways moved in in 1777 and set up Wallsuches Bleachworks, which transformed Horwich from a sleeping hamlet to an industrial village with several thousand people.

“With their considerable wealth they first of all set up a home known as Ridgemont but they also bought several other properties one being Colemans.”

Joseph Ridgeway, son of the founder of Wallsuches Bleachworks and known as the Father of Present Day Horwich, lived at the Coleman’s.
During the 19th Century the home was upgraded and in 1850 a wing was added.
The house later passed down through inheritance to the Ryder family, until it was put back on the market and bought by its current owners.

The current owners bought the house four years ago and have transformed the house adding many modern luxuries.

The house is currently listed on Right Move and marketed by Movuno.com.

Mr Whittle believes that some of its features will go back several hundred years to the 1700s and 1800s, however it is unlikely that any of its period features from 1425 remain.

The present owners have most recently added a bespoke extension which includes a 10 metre run of bi-folding doors to link the indoors with the landscaped garden.

On the ground floor the home has a TV lounge, a main lounge, family lounge, reading area, study, kitchen and family dining area.

Meanwhile one the first floor there are four bedrooms with bathrooms and on the lower ground floor another bedroom with sauna, steam and solarium room, gym and cinema.