THE HALL ON THIS PAGE
Storrs Hall, Arkholme
Near Melling, Lancashire
- Owned by a Storrs family until Adam Storrs’s will passed it to the Askews (1701/02)
- Sold to Francis Pearson in 1848 and rebuilt in the Gothic style
- Grade II listed
OUR HISTORY · ARKHOLME, LANCASHIRE
Storrs Hall
The house that bears our name
Nearly eight centuries of reported history, an extraordinary family legacy, and a mystery that may connect branches of the Storrs family across England.
In the Lancashire countryside, near Arkholme and the village of Melling, stands an extraordinary house called Storrs Hall. Its battlemented tower, stone walls and Gothic detailing evoke a far older world. Yet for generations of the Storrs family, the chief fascination has been something simpler: the name above its history.
Historical accounts and wills establish that a family named Storrs owned the estate. Published histories trace its association with the name to at least the early fifteenth century, and a later estate brochure reports an even earlier connection, in 1242/43. The hall passed through a Storrs daughter to the Askew family in the early eighteenth century, yet the name endured. [1–5]
For David Storrs, whose decades of genealogical work underpin this website, Storrs Hall has long held particular significance. His research, together with an old photograph preserved by his cousin Jean Guy, helped keep alive a question that still awaits a conclusive answer:
Could the Storrs family whose history is preserved here share ancestors with the family who owned Storrs Hall?
There is real evidence to investigate: wills, estate deeds, local histories and an intriguing heraldic pedigree. But a continuous genealogical link between the owners of Storrs Hall and David’s documented Nottinghamshire family line has not yet been proved. This page preserves the known story, the promising clues, the uncertainties and the family memories that make the question so compelling.
The earliest traces: William Storrs and John de Storrs
Reported traditionPublished account
A historical note in a Storrs Hall estate brochure says William Storrs gave his name to the property in 1242/43, during the reign of Henry III. The underlying medieval deed has not yet been inspected, so the date and claim should be regarded as a reported historical assertion, not independently verified fact. [4]
Which came first, the family surname or the place-name, also remains open. In northern England, names resembling storr or storrs could relate to rough or rocky ground, or to young woodland. Place-names and surnames sometimes developed together, and later histories do not entirely agree on whether the family named the land or the land named the family.
A later historic account of Arkholme identifies John de Storrs as owner of the hall during the reign of Henry V (1413–1422). The same account names Adam Storrs as an owner around 1600, and describes the family’s occupation continuing into the early eighteenth century. These are substantial clues to continuity, although the gaps between surviving named owners still need to be filled by deeds or a documented pedigree. [3]
A crucial distinction: the house standing today is substantially a nineteenth-century Gothic rebuilding. The early Storrs family lived in earlier buildings on the estate, not necessarily the building shown in the family photograph. [5]
Trouble in Tudor Lancashire: the dispute of 1589
Primary document
An episode preserved in Charles Storrs’s 1886 genealogy brings the sixteenth-century family into unusually sharp focus.
A Duchy of Lancaster complaint dated 6 November 1589 was brought by John Thompson of Gressingham. It named Adam Storres, his sons Henry Storres, Christopher Storrs and Thomas Storrs, and William Townson, in a dispute involving property documents and land at Gressingham Park. Thompson alleged improper possession of documents and physical intimidation, including assaults on his workmen. [1]
These allegations show how fiercely land and inheritance could be contested, but they must not be mistaken for findings of guilt. Charles Storrs wrote that he could not trace the outcome, and suspected that the accused had an answer to the complaint.
Whatever the outcome, the names in the surviving account are valuable genealogical leads: an Adam with three named sons, all active in the district in the late Tudor period.
Henry Storre’s will, 1601
Primary document
A second document transcribed in the 1886 genealogy is a damaged will dated 26 December 1601, made by Henry Storre of Cawood in the parish of Melling. It refers to his wife Jenet, eldest son Adam, brother Christopher, and two younger children. Henry asked to be buried in the churchyard close to his father’s grave: a personal detail preserved across more than four centuries. [1]
Charles Storrs thought Henry may have been the man named in the 1589 complaint. The shared district and the brother Christopher make that a plausible line of inquiry, not an established identification; it would take the original probate record and further dated evidence to confirm it.
Another record of about the same time concerns the estate of a widow, Agnes Storres. Together, these documents point to an extended Storrs network in the district, but the precise links between its members remain to be reconstructed. [1]
Adam Storrs of Storrs Hall (1629–1702)
Published accountPrimary document
One of the best-documented owners is Adam Storrs, baptised at Melling on 2 September 1629. The pedigree in W. H. Chippindall’s History of the Township of Arkholme (1931) identifies him as a son of Henry Storrs (1607–1662), drawing partly on Storrs Hall deeds and manorial or inheritance records. Chippindall’s underlying citations deserve direct inspection. [2]
On 5 April 1656, Adam entered into a marriage contract with Jane Rawlinson, daughter of William Rawlinson of Graithewaite in Furness Fells. On 20 September 1663 he was admitted as a tenant of the manor of Hornby. Jane was buried at Melling on 24 June 1676. [2]
Their children, as described in published accounts, included daughters Anne and Elizabeth, and sons Henry and William, who died young. Adam later lived in Kendal with his daughter Anne and her second husband, Anthony Askew. [2]
Adam made his will on 13 February 1701/02 and was buried on 17 February 1701/02. The double year reflects the English calendar used before 1752, when the legal year began on 25 March. [1–2]
The will that explains how Storrs Hall changed hands
Primary document
This is perhaps the most revealing surviving piece of the hall’s family history. In the extract reproduced by Charles Storrs, Adam describes himself as a gentleman of Storrs Hall in the parish of Melling, Lancashire. His property included the hall (the capital messuage, or principal house of the estate), its demesne lands, and land at Lockey called Hallbancks. [1]
Adam left his principal property to his eldest daughter, Anne Askew, for her lifetime. After Anne’s death, it was to pass to her husband Anthony Askew and his heirs. The estate therefore crossed from Storrs ownership to the Askew line through a family inheritance, not an unrelated purchase.
The estate left the Storrs surname, but never lost the name Storrs Hall.
People named in Adam’s will
| Person | Recorded relationship | What the will tells us |
|---|---|---|
| Anne Askew | Eldest daughter | A life interest in the hall and estate, before inheritance by Anthony Askew and his heirs |
| Anthony Askew | Anne’s husband; Adam’s son-in-law | The hall after Anne’s lifetime; executor and residuary legatee |
| Elizabeth Backhouse | Younger daughter | A life interest in other property at Kittby, Melling parish, and £50 |
| Isabell (Isabel) Backhouse | Granddaughter | An interest in Elizabeth’s property after her mother’s death |
| Jane Backhouse | Granddaughter | An interest in Elizabeth’s property after her mother’s death |
| John Cawson | Grandson | £5; apparently Anne’s son from her first marriage |
| Richard Backhouse | Grandson | £5 |
| William Storrs | Cousin | Two shillings |
| John Storrs | Cousin | Two shillings |
| Esther Storrs | Cousin | Two shillings |
| Magdalen Storrs | Cousin | Two shillings |
Witnesses are transcribed as Robert Wilson, Theophilus Holme and Nicholas Tunstall. A later administration bond involving Anthony Askew is also described in the 1886 genealogy. Spellings and dates should be checked against the original probate documents where available. [1]
The four Storrs cousins are a particularly promising research lead. They show that other people bearing the surname were part of Adam’s kinship network. Tracing their parents, homes, wills and descendants might reveal branches that kept the Storrs name after the estate passed to the Askews.
Lockey, Hallbancks and today’s Locka Lane
Adam’s will mentions land at “Lockey”. Today the estate is approached near Locka Lane. The resemblance is intriguing and may preserve an older local place-name, but the connection has not yet been verified. A sequence of estate maps and deeds would be the best way to establish whether the two places coincide.
The Askews inherit the estate
Published account
Anne Storrs married Charles Cawson in 1684/85. After his death in 1693, she married Dr Anthony Askew of Kendal in 1694. Her children are reported to have included John Cawson from her first marriage, while the Askew line included Adam, Anthony and Margaret Askew. [1–2]
The Askews became a prominent medical and professional family. Later descendants and relatives included physicians and collectors whose genealogical records helped keep the story of the Storrs connection alive.
Published accounts differ about a rebuilding of the earlier hall during the Askew period: one says 1702, while a later estate brochure reports rebuilding in 1716. The dates should not be combined or treated as equally established. What is clear is that the hall kept changing while keeping the name of its earlier owners. [3–4]
Philip du Storrs: a remarkable Norman tradition
Reported tradition
The most dramatic claim in the historical genealogy reaches back to William, Duke of Normandy, and the era of the Norman Conquest.
Charles Storrs’s book reproduces an account attributed to the College of Arms, concerning heraldic quartering granted or recorded for Adam Askew of Newcastle in 1760. It traces the Askew family’s Storrs ancestry through Anne, daughter and heiress of Adam Storrs of Storrs Hall, and asserts descent from Philip du Storrs, described in connection with a provisioning role for William of Normandy. [1]
The unusual wording, sometimes transcribed as “Stores Providetor”, needs checking against the heraldic manuscript itself. If it is correctly represented, it appears to refer to providing or overseeing supplies: important work for a medieval military expedition. But Philip’s role and identity cannot be reconstructed confidently from a later reference alone.
Why the claim matters
The reference is more valuable than unsourced family folklore because it points to a specific heraldic pedigree: the genealogy cites a College of Arms pedigree, volume XIV, page 109, in connection with the Askew quartering. A quartering could be claimed through descent from an heiress, which is consistent with Anne Storrs inheriting the hall before it passed to the Askew heirs. A surviving heraldic pedigree could therefore hold information about Anne’s ancestors that is missing from the better-known published genealogy. [1] [9]
What is not proved
The 1760 heraldic reference, as reproduced in an 1886 publication, does not by itself establish a complete descent from an eleventh-century Philip du Storrs to the seventeenth-century Adam Storrs. Several centuries of intermediate generations would need independent documentation, and Philip’s existence, position and service, and the exact original wording, remain to be verified.
The tradition is exciting because it is a specific, researchable historical claim, not because it should already be accepted as fact.
A tantalising question: did the heraldic authorities rely on an older pedigree or family deeds that survive in an archive today?
Heraldry and the Storrs name
The reported heraldic account describes arms associated with the Storrs Hall family: a red shield bearing two ermine bars, with a gold chief charged with a red lion passant guardant. Charles Storrs’s genealogy also discusses different arms attributed to other Storrs branches, including families associated with Storrs and Tourton in Lancashire, and Sutton cum Lound. [1]
Similar heraldry may point researchers towards common origins, but a shared surname or a resemblance between arms is not enough to establish descent, or an entitlement to bear those arms. That would need a properly supported line of descent from a particular armiger. The coat of arms used elsewhere on this website should not, therefore, be taken as the arms of the Storrs Hall owners without specific evidence.
From old manor to Gothic landmark
Published account
In 1848, Henry William Askew sold Storrs Hall to Francis Pearson, a solicitor from Kirkby Lonsdale, known in historical accounts by the colourful nickname “the Kirkby Devil”. [3–4]
Pearson rebuilt the house in the Gothic Revival style. Historic England describes it as a large house built in 1848 on the site of an earlier building, in a domestic Gothic style, with a four-storey embattled tower and an octagonal corner turret, mullioned windows with Tudor-arched lights, and tall octagonal chimneys. The wider works are often dated 1848–1850. The present house is a Grade II listed building, first listed in 1985. [5]
So the house is largely Victorian, even though the site and the estate’s history are much older.
Nearby Storrs Hall Cottage is listed separately. It dates from 1713 and carries a plaque inscribed “TWM 1713”. Another plaque, said to have come from a demolished cottage across the road, is dated 1743 and bears a Latin motto that suits the estate’s story remarkably well: Nunc mei mox hujus sed postea nescio cujus, “Now mine, soon his, but afterwards I know not whose.” [6]
Part of the local community
A historical description of Arkholme records charitable payments associated with the Storrs Hall estate following a 1728 bequest by Thomas Wrayton: a weekly provision of six penny wheat loaves for a poor widow or widower who attended service at Arkholme Chapel. It is a reminder that the estate’s history touched the everyday lives of the people around it, not just its owners. [3]
Two houses called Storrs Hall
Published account
There is a different Storrs Hall at Windermere, and the two are easily confused.
A DIFFERENT HOUSE
Storrs Hall, Windermere
On Lake Windermere, Cumbria
- Built in the mid-1790s for Sir John Legard; now a lakeside hotel
- Named after the locality of Storrs on Windermere
- Grade II* listed; not shown to have belonged to the Arkholme family
The distinction has even caused confusion in older genealogy: the 1886 book discusses the Arkholme and Melling owners while also referring to Lake Windermere. The Askew and Pearson ownership, and the 1848 rebuilding, belong to Arkholme, not to the Windermere hotel. [1] [7]
For the family, that confusion became part of a much more personal story.
THE FAMILY’S OWN STORY
An old photograph, carefully preserved
Family recollection
The black-and-white photograph at the top of this page was preserved by Jean Guy, cousin of David Storrs. Jean, who was unmarried, did not want the photograph to be lost, and passed it to David for safekeeping. It was a small but meaningful act, and it suggests the hall mattered not just to David, but elsewhere in the family too.
Why Jean had the photograph in the first place, and what she may have known about the estate’s relationship to the family, remain unanswered questions. The photograph is not proof of ancestry, but it is unmistakably part of the family’s own historical record.
Windermere, 2007: the wrong Storrs Hall
Family recollection
In 2007, Michael Storrs visited England with Emma, now his wife. Knowing the name Storrs Hall from his father’s interest in family history, he went to see the impressive hall on Lake Windermere, assuming it was the building David had long talked about.
Back in Australia, David showed him Jean’s photograph. It looked nothing like the Windermere house. Comparing it with the photographs from the trip made the mistake obvious, and a little disappointing. But the wrong turning sharpened a new question: where was the Storrs Hall in the family photograph?
Arkholme, 2014: an invitation at the gatehouse
Family recollection
When Michael returned to England in 2014, he was determined to find the right house. He travelled to the Arkholme district with his goddaughter, Samantha Britcher (now Samantha Storrs).
At the entrance to the property, the pair found themselves peering over the fence, hoping for a glimpse; Michael later said they looked “like meerkats”. The gatehouse keeper noticed them and, rather than sending the unexpected visitors away, invited them in for a cup of tea.
What began as a search for a name from the family’s history became one of the most surreal and memorable moments of the journey. The visit could not prove ancestry, but it created a new family memory at a place already treasured by David, Jean and others.
The missing link: Arkholme and the Nottinghamshire Storrs family
David’s research preserved a line of Storrs ancestors associated with Sutton cum Lound in Nottinghamshire. These names also appear in Charles Storrs’s 1886 genealogy, the same book that discusses the Arkholme estate. [1]
A will of William Storrs of Lound, dated 3 August 1557 and proved at York on 6 October 1557, names his wife Dorothe, sons Robert and William, and daughters Elizabeth, Dyonice and Ellen. A later will of Robert Storrs, dated 16 May 1588, refers to his wife Mabbell and children including Robert, John, Dorothie and Anne. These are valuable evidence for the Nottinghamshire branch, and their full transcriptions and original probate records should be compared with David’s workbook. [1]
Why the connection is worth investigating
- Two established English Storrs families appear in one substantial nineteenth-century genealogical study.
- The Storrs Hall line has named owners, wills, landholdings and family members in Lancashire; the Lound line has wills naming identifiable ancestors in Nottinghamshire.
- The other Storrs relatives named in Adam’s 1701/02 will offer traceable side branches.
- Charles Storrs discussed a possible shared origin among English Storrs lines and recorded varied heraldic traditions. His theory is a historical hypothesis, not a proven connection.
- Families did move between English counties, but that has to be shown in records (wills, deeds, parish entries or court proceedings) for a particular family.
Why no link is yet proved: no genealogy has yet supplied a documented chain connecting William Storrs of Nottinghamshire (died 1557) to the Arkholme family. Recurring first names and a shared surname are not enough. Even if a relationship exists, it might run through a cousin line rather than direct descent from the hall’s owners.
The next priority is to trace the William, John, Esther and Magdalen Storrs named as cousins in Adam’s will, and compare their families with the Nottinghamshire and earlier Lancashire lines. Other strong leads include the Storrs Hall deeds, the Melling parish registers, the Hornby manor court records and the College of Arms pedigree. [8–9]
Timeline of the hall and the family
- c. 1066
Philip du Storrs reportedly connected with provisioning for William of Normandy
Later heraldic tradition; unverified - 1242/43
William Storrs reportedly gives his name to the estate
Estate brochure claim; medieval deed not yet checked - 1413–1422
John de Storrs recorded as owner during the reign of Henry V
Published local history - 1589
Adam Storres and his sons Henry, Christopher and Thomas named in a Duchy of Lancaster complaint
Legal complaint, transcribed in 1886 - 1601
Will of Henry Storre of Cawood
Will transcription; link to the Henry of 1589 uncertain - 1607–1662
Henry Storrs, identified in Chippindall’s pedigree
Published pedigree based on historic records - 1629
Adam Storrs baptised at Melling
Parish register detail in a published history - 1656
Adam’s marriage contract with Jane Rawlinson
Published history - 1663
Adam admitted as a tenant of the manor of Hornby
Manorial record cited in a published history - 1676
Jane (Rawlinson) Storrs buried at Melling
Parish register detail in a published history - 1684/85
Anne Storrs marries Charles Cawson
Published genealogy - 1694
Anne marries Anthony Askew
Published genealogy - 1701/02
Adam’s will leaves the hall to Anne for life, then to Anthony Askew and his heirs
Will transcription: the key evidence for the transfer - 1702 / 1716
Conflicting dates for a rebuilding under the Askews
Published accounts disagree - 1713
Date on Storrs Hall Cottage
Listed building record - 1728
Thomas Wrayton’s charitable bequest connected with the estate
Published local history - 1760
Storrs–Askew heraldic pedigree and quartering reported
Heraldic claim quoted in 1886; manuscript still to be inspected - 1848
Henry William Askew sells the hall to Francis Pearson, who rebuilds it
Published history and listing - 1886
Charles Storrs publishes his genealogy, including the hall’s records
Published book - 1931
W. H. Chippindall publishes The History of the Township of Arkholme
Published local history - 1985
Storrs Hall listed Grade II
Historic England record - 2007
Michael and Emma visit the other Storrs Hall, at Windermere
Family recollection - 2014
Michael and Samantha visit Arkholme, and are invited in for tea at the gatehouse
Family recollection - 2026
The hall’s records and David’s family research are brought together on this website
Continuing family research
What is established, and what still needs to be proved
Strongly supported
A Storrs family owned Storrs Hall at Arkholme. Adam Storrs’s will provided for its transfer into the Askew family. The estate later passed to Francis Pearson and was rebuilt. The Nottinghamshire Storrs family also has early, identifiable wills. [1–5]
Published, awaiting the originals
William Storrs’s association with the estate in 1242/43; John de Storrs’s ownership in the early fifteenth century; some detailed parish and deed-based family relationships; parts of the early rebuilding chronology. [2–4]
Unverified
Philip du Storrs’s Norman-era role and an unbroken descent to the Arkholme family; any documented relationship between the Arkholme owners and the Nottinghamshire and Australian Storrs line; whether Lockey and Locka are the same place. [1–4]
These distinctions do not diminish the story. They show where the surviving evidence ends, and where another generation of family historians may be able to carry it further.
A LEGACY WORTH PRESERVING
Why the hall matters
For David Storrs, family history has never been just a list of names and dates. His research brought together old genealogies, archival references, correspondence, records shared by relatives, and family possessions that might otherwise have been lost.
Storrs Hall is a vivid example of why that work matters. Real Storrs families lived in its district, owned land, married, argued over property, wrote wills and handed their estate on to a new family. Hundreds of years later, the name remained on the house.
Jean Guy’s decision to preserve an old photograph, David’s enduring fascination, the wrong turning at Windermere in 2007 and the unexpected hospitality at Arkholme in 2014 have added new layers to that history. Whether future research finds direct ancestry, a distant cousin relationship or no demonstrable link, the family’s interest in Storrs Hall is itself a story worth keeping.
A Storrs family once owned the hall; the records prove that much. The question still waiting to be answered is whether those owners were also ancestors of the Storrs family whose history is preserved here.
Historical references and further reading
- Charles Storrs (1886), The Storrs Family: Genealogical and Other Memoranda. Sections on “Storrs of Storrs Hall” (printed pages about 13–18), heraldry, the 1589 complaint, the 1601 and 1701/02 wills, and “Storrs of Sutton-cum-Lound”. Digitised copy (PDF). Check the transcriptions against the originals before relying on exact quotations.
- W. H. Chippindall (1931), The History of the Township of Arkholme in the County of Lancaster. Chetham Society; relevant material around pages 15–20, with references to estate deeds, an inquisition, baptisms, burials and marriage agreements.
- A historic account of Arkholme-with-Cawood, digitised by the University of Leicester, covering the early owners, the Askew succession, the Pearson rebuilding and the estate charity. Digitised text (PDF).
- Storrs Hall Estate sales brochure, historical section around pages 10–11: the source of the reported 1242/43 naming, the Askew inheritance, the 1716 building and the Pearson era. Estate brochure (PDF). Estate brochures are secondary sources, not proof of medieval deeds.
- Historic England, Storrs Hall, Arkholme-with-Cawood, National Heritage List entry 1071733. Official listing.
- Historic England, Storrs Hall Cottage, National Heritage List entry 1164229. Official listing.
- Historic England, Storrs Hall, Windermere, National Heritage List entry 1332564. A separate estate with a separate history. Official listing.
- Lancashire Archives. For original Storrs Hall deeds, Askew papers, Melling parish registers, Hornby manorial records and sale particulars (a 1994 acquisition is reported under DDX 2021). Lancashire Archives.
- College of Arms, London. The pedigree attributed in the 1886 book to volume XIV, page 109, concerning the Storrs quartering by the Askew family in 1760. A research lead, not a verified citation. College of Arms.
This page draws on an earlier family-history investigation and on historical references reported in published works. It is not a certified pedigree. Dates, legal transcriptions, heraldic interpretations and the early medieval claims should be checked against original documents before they become precise family-tree relationships. Records may use variant spellings (Storre, Storres, Storrs) and old-style dates. Family recollections are credited as such, and are not offered as documentary proof of ancestry.