There was probably a house at Ordsall by 1251 when William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, exchanged the manor for land in Pendleton. In 1335 the manor passed into the hands of the Radclyffe family, where it was to remain for over 300 years. Some members of the family sat in Parliament as Knights of the Shire and Sir Alexander was High Sheriff of Lancashire on 4 occasions. Margaret Radclyffe became a favourite Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth I, and she reputedly died in 1599 of a broken heart after being jilted at the altar. Grief stricken, she apparently climbed the stairs of the Great Hall and threw herself off. According to local legend, in 1605 Guy Fawkes hatched his plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament while staying at the hall. In 1972 the Hall opened to the public as a period house and local history museum. In the Great Hall, there has often been seen the apparition of a white lady on the raised staging. believed to be the ghost of heartbroken Margaret Radclyffe. A monk has also been see here, and the figure of another lady have also been spotted here.