The foundations of the hall were laid in 1842 on the site of Cheadle Grove Print Works, which had been built in 1760 and which later burned down; the hall was completed in 1847 but remodelled in the 1850s and considerably extended in the 1890s.
It was originally called 'The Grove' after the print works and was the home of a mayor of Stockport, Alfred Orell, who died in the year of its completion.
Abney was sold to James Watts (later Sir James Watts) who rebuilt the upper storey and added two short wings in the early 1850s.
The architects for the alterations were Travis and Magnall, the Manchester firm that designed the Watts Warehouse on Portland Street in Manchester.
However, hardly was the work by Travis and Magnall complete, when James Watts was inspired to engage the architect and designer A. W. N. Pugin and his colleagues, who had created the Gothic Court at the 1851 Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, to make further substantial alterations.

James Watts was responsible for renaming it 'Abney Hall' after, in the words of his son, "Sir Thomas Abney who entertained Sir [actually Rev. Dr.] Isaac Watts for thirty years".

In the 1890s Abney Hall was further altered and substantially extended by the architect and interior designer George Faulkner Armitage.

In 1912, a valuation and inventory was taken for insurance purposes by Waring & Gillow Ltd who valued the contents of Abney Hall and Buckley Hall (a detached stone and lime building within the grounds that was demolished in 1963) at £13,150 5s 0d.
The foundations of the hall were laid in 1842 on the site of Cheadle Grove Print Works, which had been built in 1760 and which later burned down; the hall was completed in 1847 but remodelled in the 1850s and considerably extended in the 1890s. It was originally called 'The Grove' after the print works and was the home of a mayor of Stockport, Alfred Orell, who died in the year of its completion. Abney was sold to James Watts (later Sir James Watts) who rebuilt the upper storey and added two short wings in the early 1850s. The architects for the alterations were Travis and Magnall, the Manchester firm that designed the Watts Warehouse on Portland Street in Manchester. However, hardly was the work by Travis and Magnall complete, when James Watts was inspired to engage the architect and designer A. W. N. Pugin and his colleagues, who had created the Gothic Court at the 1851 Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, to make further substantial alterations.
James Watts was responsible for renaming it 'Abney Hall' after, in the words of his son, "Sir Thomas Abney who entertained Sir [actually Rev. Dr.] Isaac Watts for thirty years".
In the 1890s Abney Hall was further altered and substantially extended by the architect and interior designer George Faulkner Armitage.
In 1912, a valuation and inventory was taken for insurance purposes by Waring & Gillow Ltd who valued the contents of Abney Hall and Buckley Hall (a detached stone and lime building within the grounds that was demolished in 1963) at £13,150 5s 0d.
Abney Hall