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Lingholm is a large Victorian mansion built in 1870-3 for Lt Col James Fenton Greenall, designed by the architect Alfred Waterhouse, whose other works include the Natural History Museum in London and Manchester Town Hall. By the 1880s financial problems led to the house being repossessed and for a number of years it was rented out as a holiday home. A frequent visitor was Beatrix Potter, who spent 10 summers over the years at Lingholm. The kitchen garden at the time (demolished some time after the First World War) is reputed to have been her model for Mr McGregor's garden in the Tale of Peter Rabbit, with the Tale of Squirrel Nutkin being another story with Longholm roots.

In 1899 it was purchased by Col George Kemp, owner and chairman of the Rochdale woollen manufacturers, Kelsall and Kemp, and Liberal Unionist MP for Heywood, who later became Lord Rochdale. He remodelled and extended the house, as well as adding to the wider estate.

It remained in the ownership of the Kemps until 2013, but is now owned by the Seymour family, who have restored the house, both as a family home and for holiday lets, and have developed the grounds, with an octagonal walled garden built on the site of an original one which had been demolished after the First World War, overlooked by a café.

Grade II listed – see Link

Created: Tue, 20 Nov 2018, Updated: Mon, 23 Sep 2019