Inside the elegant restaurant that's opened in St Helens' newest hotel

The historic Rainhill Hall, which is set in 18-acres of majestic woodland, was opened in December last year as a hotel and wedding venue.

The venue's owner Signature Living spent the months of lockdown turning the former Loyola Hall Catholic retreat into a venue with "a unique offering".

The venue's interior

The restaurant at the Grade II listed building has been named ‘The Bretherton’ after Bartholomew Bretherton who established the hall in 1824 and where his family lived for 100 years.

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His association with the hall is further celebrated in The Bretherton restaurant’s new logo of a coach and horses which was Bartholomew’s family business.

The venue's bosses say that as well as aiming to deliver "a daily first class seasonally inspired menu", the restaurant will host a monthly six-course silver service, white glove tasting evening.

Newly appointed head chef at The Bretherton is Jon Varney, who started his career at Liverpool’s iconic Panoramic 34 restaurant before landing his first head chef role at Thyme in Oxton, Wirral.

Afternoon tea is served

John said: “My vision for the new menu at Rainhill Hall is to provide a fresh and modern take on British cuisine.

"My background is fine dining and my ambition for The Bretherton dovetails perfectly with those of the owners.

“We want to build the restaurant’s reputation as being the best place around for great food in a wonderful atmosphere and really impress our visitors by taking them on a journey.

“In all of our dishes we use quality, local produce presented in a modern style, where we can share some of our favourite flavours.

"We believe that it is food that everyone will enjoy.”

To build the atmosphere, there will also be live music during Thursday lunchtimes and Wednesday and Thursday evening sittings as well as at peak times during weekends.

Cocktails are on the menu

Katie Kenwright, co-owner of Signature Living, said it is an exciting time for the team at Rainhill Hall after months of uncertainty across the hospitality industry due to the pandemic.

She said: "We are really looking forward to welcoming guests to The Bretherton and especially to the tasting evenings.

“Jon is an excellent and adventurous chef and we are delighted that he has joined us at the start of a new chapter for Rainhill Hall and its restaurant.

"His dishes are delicious and they look exquisite, like pieces of art, boosted by the use of local growers and suppliers. The restaurant itself is really beautiful and delivers a great dining experience.”

The restaurant includes this beautiful window

Since taking Rainhill Hall over in 2018, Signature Living has added 14 rooms on the lower ground floor.

The upper ground floor has 10 rooms with function rooms, in addition to the restaurant and dining facilities, bar and a reception area.

The first floor now has 19 bedrooms, including the bridal suite for wedding events and the second floor has four further bedrooms, with two staircases for access from below.

Katie outlined other developments, at the venue, adding: “ We recently introduced our Secret Garden inspired afternoon teas and they are already proving hugely popular.

“Very soon we will be opening our spa and in addition to the new outside Loyola terrace that we have built during lockdown, we now have a roof top terrace serving cocktails and it’s also available for hire.

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“On top of that we are building fabulous alternative accommodation in the shape of a luxury fairy tale tree house where guests can sleep high among the canopy of leaves and which should prove very popular with wedding couples and make Rainhill Hall the most fabulous wedding venue and events space in the city region.

“This is all in addition to Rainhill Hall’s wonderful woodland walks which really make this historic venue a magical place to visit, stay or be married.

"Rainhill Hall is truly a blend of timeless character and contemporary charm and has a gorgeous chapel, so everything is here on one site for the perfect wedding or indeed the perfect day out.”

The venue's history

Rainhill Hall’s transformation into a hotel and fine dining restaurant is the latest chapter for a collection of buildings with a rich history.

In 1907, Bartholomew Bretherton’s great grandniece, Evelyn, who lived at the hall, married Gebhard Blücher von Wahlstatt, the fourth Prince Blücher (1865–1931) of Prussia-Germany.

In 1923, the hall was sold to the Jesuits who renamed it Loyola Hall and turned into a Catholic retreat. After the Second World War they added a chapel with stained-glass windows and sculptures by acclaimed artist Jonah Jones and 50 ensuite rooms for residential visitors.

During the Jesuits’ ownership, the North Korean national team also stayed there ahead of their 1966 World Cup quarter final defeat against Portugal at Everton FC’s Goodison Park.