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Originally, visitors to Speke (having crossed the stone bridge over the moat) would have passed directly through the gatehouse into the Courtyard, entering the house by the great door opposite which gives access to the Screens Passage and thence to the Great Hall. A spy hole above the entrance door enabled the occupants to 'eavesdrop' on visitors. This southern side of the Courtyard contains the oldest parts of the present building, of c.1400.
The Courtyard was completed by the building of the North Range in 1598, as confirmed by the inscription over the entrance. Its unusually symmetrical appearance was achieved by the later re-facing of the Kitchen wing and the building of a second bay to balance that of the Great Hall on the right. The quatrefoil panels and diagonal timbering are particularly characteristic of timber-framed houses in Lancashire and Cheshire. The two ancient yew trees which dominate the Courtyard are known traditionally as Adam and Eve, and are thought to be some 300 years old.
The Small Dining Room The panelling, fireplace and decoration date from Frederick Leyland's restoration following his leasing of Speke from 1867. He united two small rooms to create a new dining room in preference to the Great Hall, which had previously been used for this purpose. During Miss Watt's time it became a morning-room, where she would receive tenants on estate business. In contrast to most of the furnishings at Speke, there are several mahogany pieces in this room that date from the early 19th century, such as the cane-seated armchairs which belonged to relatives of Adelaide Watt, the Starkies of Ashton Hall in Lancashire. The mahogany longcase clock by J. & R. Hendrick of Liverpool has a curious mixture of Egyptian and Gothic motifs.
The pictures in this room illustrate the 19th century history of Speke: the coloured lithographs by Nash and Dodd are fashionably romanticised views of the building in the 1840s; W. G. Herdman's large watercolour shows the restored house in 1860 and there is a lithograph of the last owner of Speke Hall, Miss Adelaide Watt.
It is unusual for an Elizabethan house to have passages on two sides of the courtyard most contemporary houses, like Little Moreton Hall, had interconnecting rooms. The dark stained panelling was installed by Frederick Leyland, as were the decorated door lintels for the display of his blue and white china. The pair of massive armchairs has biblical scenes carved on their ornate backs.
The first room in the west range, which was added c.1550, was formerly a kitchen, becoming a billiard room when Leyland formed a suite of masculine rooms in this wing in the 1860s. It was the west range which suffered the most decay in the 18th century. The billiard table by Thurstons is on loan from Dunham Massey in Cheshire. Unlike most of the Victorian antiquarian furniture at Speke, the side tables are in a pronounced Gothic style.
The room is entirely the result of Leyland's restoration, the wallpaper being one of William Morris's earliest designs, the 'Pomegranate' of 1862, and the fireplace incorporating Liverpool pottery tiles. Most of the books belonged to Miss Watt and reflect her interest in estate management as well as religious works and novels.