Tilbury Douglas’s appointment begins with pre-construction planning for Haigh Hall, following approval of restoration plans. The council forecasts the Hall opening in 2028.
What the contractor appointment means
Haigh Hall restoration has moved into pre-construction planning following Wigan Council’s appointment of Tilbury Douglas Construction Limited, announced on 8 October 2026. The initial work covers design development, surveys and programme planning, rather than completion of the main restoration. Planning permission and listed-building consent are already in place; the latest appointment concerns preparing their delivery.
This account covers announcements through 23 October 2026. Undated council information on future arrangements and opening forecasts was checked on 24 October 2026.
Generic illustration: a stone country house across a lawn beneath an overcast sky, with mature trees. Not a photograph of Haigh Hall.
Haigh Hall restoration: what Tilbury Douglas’s appointment covers
The council’s appointment announcement places Tilbury Douglas alongside its project team and specialist designers. The intended outcome remains an arts, culture and heritage destination, but the immediate task is to develop how the restoration will be delivered.
Tilbury Douglas’s own announcement, published on 9 October, describes collaborative design and programme development, further surveys and planning. It also identifies consideration of the construction approach needed for the historic building before the main restoration works.
The stated scope includes the Grade II* Hall’s internal restoration, associated landscaping, car park improvements and a new energy centre. The announcements do not establish an energy-centre specification, quantified energy savings or a value for this appointment.
The council also associates the appointment with social value, local opportunities, skills development and support for businesses. These are stated commitments, not published totals for jobs or local purchasing.
Its wider project information identifies partnerships with Wigan and Leigh College and the local business network. This gives the Haigh Hall restoration a training and business context, without establishing specific vacancies, supplier contracts or recruitment dates.
The restoration of Haigh Hall: approved galleries, learning spaces and hospitality
Wigan Council confirmed on 15 April 2026 that planning permission and listed-building consent had been granted. The application had been submitted in autumn 2025. This approval preceded October’s contractor appointment and established the proposed mix of uses.
The Haigh Hall restoration plans include gallery spaces for exhibitions and cultural activity. A ground-floor education hub would provide dedicated accommodation for learning, workshops and community engagement. Together, these uses extend the proposal beyond displaying art alone.
Flexible event spaces are another element. The approved scheme accommodates cultural, heritage and commercial events, rather than assigning the entire building to one exhibition function. The education hub and event accommodation give different activities their own place within the proposals.
Hospitality plans include a ground-floor café that will also operate as a restaurant. A rooftop bar and terrace overlooking the estate, alongside a gift shop, form part of the approved facilities.
These are planned uses, not evidence that the venues are trading. The approval announcement does not establish menus, admission prices or booking arrangements. Those operational details are separate from the consented layout.
Architect Purcell says the restoration of Haigh Hall would open previously inaccessible areas, including the rooftop and basement. This describes an intended expansion of public access, not unrestricted access to every room.
Purcell also reports engagement with residents, park users, community groups and other stakeholders during the scheme’s development. Its account places conservation and community access alongside the new cultural and hospitality uses.
Conserving the Hall after the exterior restoration
Generic conservation illustration: anonymous hands repairing a timber window frame beside stone masonry with plain tools. Not documented work at Haigh Hall.
The Haigh Hall restoration concerns a building with a detailed architectural record. Historic England’s listing dates the present house to 1827–1840 and associates it with the 24th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, possibly as designer as well as patron. It was first listed on 19 November 1951.
The Grade II* house has three stone-built storeys arranged around a central light well. Its entrance elevation has eleven bays and a Tuscan porch. The garden frontage includes full-height projecting bays and an ornamental cast-iron balcony.
Inside, the listing records a coffered entrance-hall ceiling, divided into recessed panels, and an anthemion frieze with decorative plant motifs. Other features include Gothic-style fireplace grates and a wind-direction indicator. The stair hall has a centrally lit sail vault, ornamental friezes and decorative masks.
Some interior material is older than the present house. Historic England identifies reused early eighteenth-century timber blind arcading and an open-well staircase lit by an etched-glass dome. These surviving elements should not be confused with the construction date of the building around them.
Purcell says Wigan Council appointed it in 2019 to develop a comprehensive estate masterplan. The practice places the Hall within 250 acres of public parkland and woodland. Its account identifies water ingress and timber decay affecting the roof structure before targeted investigations and repairs.
The council records completion of exterior works in summer 2025. Its summary includes stonework, windows and chimney pots, restoration of three historic glass domes, new roof slates, replacement of rotten timbers, drainage work and ironwork replacement.
H.H. Smith’s account of its earlier external fabric commission gives a delivery period of May 2023 to June 2025. It records work on roofs, windows, chimneys, doors, balconies and heritage rooflights, alongside replacement lightning protection. The roof work covered eight areas, including flat roofs and several forms of Burlington slate roof.
The contractor also identifies asbestos and dry-rot removal and below-ground drainage repairs. Its stated £6.2 million value relates to that earlier commission, not Tilbury Douglas’s October 2026 appointment.
These records explain why exterior completion and the next internal phase are different milestones in the restoration of Haigh Hall. The earlier conservation package addressed the building’s fabric; it did not complete the new public facilities.
Funding, council management and the changing art offer
The April approval announcement identifies £20 million from the government’s Local Regeneration Fund for the Haigh Hall restoration. That figure is a funding contribution, not a published value for Tilbury Douglas’s appointment or a complete project budget.
The council’s published management position, checked on 24 October 2026, is that it will retain governance and management of the Hall and estate. It intends to contract an independent hospitality operator directly. This describes the proposed arrangement, not confirmation that an operator has been appointed.
A separate development trust is being explored to raise an endowment supporting long-term sustainability. An endowment is a fund intended to provide continuing support. Exploration of that model does not mean the trust or its funding is already established.
The proposed art offer has also changed. Following Mary Major’s death, her estate’s executors indicated that establishing and administering a trust to loan the Theodore Major collection was no longer possible.
The council says the collection was not a requirement of any secured funding and that it is pursuing other artworks. The unavailable loan therefore should not be presented as a confirmed attraction or as evidence that a funding condition has failed.
The approved gallery spaces remain part of the scheme. However, the council’s position does not establish a replacement collection or a final exhibition programme for the Haigh Hall reopening.
Bothy Yard, productive gardens and the opening timetable
Generic garden illustration: vegetable beds, a simple glasshouse and gardening tools beside a gravel path. Not Haigh’s gardens or completed future facilities.
The council’s published timetable, checked on 24 October 2026, forecasts Bothy Yard and the new Walled Garden glasshouse opening in 2027. The Haigh Hall reopening follows in the forecast for 2028. These remain planned stages, rather than guaranteed opening dates.
The horticultural programme has its own contractor history. A report to the Progress with Unity Scrutiny Committee on 27 January 2026 records H.H. Smith’s appointment in September 2025 for Bothy Yard, working buildings and the Walled Kitchen Garden glasshouse. Completion was then anticipated by mid-2027.
That appointment is separate from Tilbury Douglas’s work on the Hall. The report’s construction-completion expectation also describes a different milestone from the council’s forecast public opening.
The proposed horticultural hub combines training and education with community and event spaces. It would connect productive gardening with learning and public activity, rather than serving solely as an ornamental garden.
The report also describes garden produce supplying the Hall’s café and restaurant, plus a small yard shop selling selected Haigh produce. It does not establish output volumes, staffing requirements or detailed trading arrangements.
Parking, drainage and estate access proposals
The council’s access proposals, checked on 24 October 2026, would replace entrance barriers with automatic number plate recognition cameras. These identify vehicles from their registration plates. A terrace car park is planned on the current driving-range and overflow-parking site, incorporating sustainable drainage.
The council also proposes incremental traffic measures on Sennicar and Pendlebury Lanes. These include monitoring on busy days, signage and event-specific procedures, with marshals when required. They are proposals, not confirmation that every measure is operating or that congestion will fall by a particular amount.
The next stage is therefore preparation for delivery, following consent and earlier exterior repairs. For the latest programme and access information, consult Wigan Council’s project questions and updates before making plans around a future opening.
Sources
- Leading building and engineering company appointed to Haigh Hall restoration project
- Tilbury Douglas appointed to Haigh Hall restoration project – Tilbury Douglas
- Restoration of Haigh Hall approved
- Haigh Hall, Haigh – 1228292 | Historic England
- www.hhsmith.co.uk
- Haigh Hall receives planning consent | Conservation Architects and Heritage Consultants | Purcell
- www.wigan.gov.uk
- Your questions answered
- wigan.moderngov.co.uk