When restored Grade II-listed mansion in Salford park will reopen as wedding venue after being shut for years

A date has been set for the re-opening of a grade II listed mansion in Salford which has been closed for more than 20 years.

Buile Hill Mansion, based in Buile Hill Park off Eccles Old Road, is undergoing restoration works to allow it to be used by registrar staff at Salford council as well as community groups. The total cost of the project is expected to be more than £7 million according to a council report.

The report stated that the work on the building is set to be completed by December 20, with spring 2025 marked as the target date for wedding bookings to begin. Proposals for the Mansion include relocating the council’s registrars service to the building alongside a café bar, function room, heritage and community meeting room.

The council is planning further external improvement works to the café building “as soon as finances allow”, which could include a new car park, a new walkway from the main entrance on Eccles Old Road, and improvements to the existing sensory garden.

Previously, the building had been left in a “a state of dereliction” according to the council report. The building was built between 1825 and 1827 for Thomas Potter, a textile merchant who became Manchester’s first mayor from 1838 to 1840.

During the First World War and Second World War, the mansion was used for military purposes including storing 800,000 sand bags. It was caught in the blitz when it was struck with a direct hit in 1940 from the German Luftwaffe. It has been closed since 2000 after the closure of the the Lancashire Mining museum which was based in the building.