THIS week in Looking Back we are taking a look back to one of Warrington’s most historic buildings.

Bewsey Old Hall is now home to plush flats, But its history dates back centuries.

It remains one of the most recognisable buildings in Warrington – even if its more recent history is dominated by fires and planning battles.

Bewsey Old Hall was originally built by William Fitz Almeric le Boteler and was home to the Lords of Warrington from the 13th Century for many generations.

The Boteler family names lives on in Warrington thanks to the school in Latchford among others.

A monastic grange existed in the site prior to the hall being built.

The largely Jacobean building is currently of three storey construction, with distinctive chimneys and stone mullion windows.

This is likely to be the work of Sir Thomas Ireland who was knighted at Bewsey in 1617 by King James 1.

Only a small portion of the original building remains today, but since the late 1970s much historical, architectural and archaeological investigation has taken place to reveal the importance of the site.

In the 1980s, during archaeological excavations, a number of artefacts were found in the hall.

These included a medieval leather shoe, pottery, coins and a seal die carrying the impression of a rabbit which dates back to the 14th Century.

A statue of Lady Isabella le Boteler, the wife of the 12th Baron, can be found in the yew maze which has now fallen into disrepair and a mosaic effigy of her son, Sir John, also lies nearby.

Lady Isabella was abducted from the Hall and forced to marry William Pulle in Wales in 1437.

She was eventually rescued by Sir Thomas Stanley.

A planning battle against plans to turn the home into flats raged during much of the early part of the 2000s.

But that was eventually won by developers Urban Splash who have since converted the building into flats.

It came after arsonists targeted the site.