THIS photograph from the archives show one of Bolton’s great ‘lost’ homes.

Taken in the 1950s it shows Oaks Hall at Bradshaw shortly before it was demolished in 1956.

Oaks Hall was built by John Ashworth in 1820 and given to his son Henry in 1823. The Ashworths were among the wealthiest mill owners in the area owning both Eagley and Egerton Mill. With his brother Edmund, Henry built the family business into one of the most technically-advanced cotton businesses in the country.

The site of Oaks Hall is now occupied by Canon Slade School.