Adlington Hall, the home of the Leghs of Adlington from 1315 to the present day, was built on the site of a Hunting Lodge which stood in the Forest of Macclesfield in 1040. Two oaks, part of the original building, remain with their roots in the ground and support the east end of the Great Hall, which was built between 1480 and 1505. The Hall is a manor house, quadrangular in shape, and was once surrounded by a moat. Two sides of the Courtyard and the east wing were built in the typical ‘Black and White’ Cheshire style in 1581. The south front and west wing (containing the Drawing Room and Dining Room) were added between 1749 and 1757 and are built of red brick with a handsome stone portico with four Ionic columns on octagonal pedestals. Between the trees in the Great Hall stands an organ built by ‘Father’ Bernard Smith (c1670-80). Handel subsequently played on this instrument and, now fully restored, it is the largest 17th century organ in the country. Gardens The Gardens have been laid out over many centuries. A lime walk planted in 1688 leads to a Regency rockery that surrounds the unique Shell Cottage. The Wilderness, a Rococo styled landscape garden of the Georgian period contains many follies such as the chinoserie T’Ing House, Pagoda bridge and a classical Temple to Diana. Newly created formal gardens around the house include an old fashioned rose garden yew maze and a flower parterre and water garden.