Whilst never residing in the hall he did exploit the coal reserves and even built the Douglas Navigation Canal to cut the cost of transporting his coal to Liverpool. He eventually sold the canal to the Leeds Liverpool Canal Company becoming the Lancashire section of it. The estate eventuall passed to his Grandson, Robert Holt Leigh who, at the time, was living at Whitley Hall, Wigan. He too trained as a Barrister but in 1802 was elected as MP for Wigan. It was during this time that he decided to relocate to Hindley Park and to build a magnificent Hall befitting his position. The Hall was built about 1811 to his own plans but he forgot to include stairs! That was corrected and we have today a beautiful building over 3 floors with extensive cellars.
