Dutch gable façade. Other alterations include the Ashworth and Bradshaw rooms. Occupants Turton Tower was home to the lords of the Manor of Turton and, in about 1200, was part of the barony of Manchester, by which time part of the manor was in the hands of the de Lathom family. It was inherited in 1420 by the Orrells, who rebuilt the pele tower. In 1603 William Camden described it as built first for defence, that tournaments were held there in the 14th century and that it was entirely rebuilt of stone in 1594. In 1628 the Orrells sold Turton Tower to Humphrey Chetham, the Manchester merchant responsible for the creation of Chetham's Library and Chetham's School of Music. It passed to his descendants, the Bland, Green and Frere families who leased it to a succession of tenant farmers. The tower was sold in a state of disrepair in 1835 to James Kay, who restored it. He sold the tower to Elizabeth and Anne Appleton who leased it to William Rigg, a calico manufacturer, whose daughter, Ellen, wrote "Victorian Children at Turton Tower". In 1903 the tower was bought by Sir Lees Knowles, 1st Baronet, MP for Salford West, for £3,875. After his death in 1929, his widow, Lady Nina Knowles, presented it to Turton Urban District Council in 1930, and it became the council's seat of local government. After local government re-organisation in 1974, Turton was split, and the tower became part of the new Borough of Blackburn and was administered by Lancashire County Museums Service. Following changes to the Lancashire County Museum Service, the tower was taken over by Blackburn with Darwen Council. Gallery See also Listed buildings in North Turton References Bibliography External links Towers completed in the 15th century Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire Peel towers in Lancashire Buildings and structures in Blackburn with Darwen Country houses in Lancashire Historic house museums in Lancashire