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massetXA · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 51 Location: USA

Wycoller Hall, Pendle District

Now in ruins, Wycoller Hall was the ancestral home of the HARTLEYs who were one of the greatest farming families in this part of Lancashire. The Hall was built by Piers HARTLEY in 1550. Later it was passed through marriage into the Cunliffe family following the Civil War. Four generations inhabited Wycoller Hall. The last of the true line was a man called Henry Owen [who assumed the name Cunliffe]. After his death in 1818 he left substantial debts so it became the property of the chief mortgager, a Rev. John Oldham who sold the doors, windows, roofing timbers and stone to support the building of a cotton mill in Trawden. Wycoller Hall is said to be haunted by a spectre horseman, and a lady dressed only in black silk.
'The Friends of Wycoller' was set up in 1948 with the primary aim to preserve the Hall. Restoration work on the Hall began in 1950 and the fireplace has been rebuilt with their help.
Wycoller Hall is thought to be “Ferndean Manor” in Charlotte Brontes novel “Jane Eyre”. The Brontes spent much of their life in Haworth, close to Wycoller.

Seven bridges cross Wycoller Beck. Three of the most important are shown above. Pack-Horse Bridge, a twin arched bridge which may have originated almost 800 years ago, but has been reconstructed over the centuries. Sally Owen, mother of Wycoller's last squire has led to the bridge's alternative name - Sally's Bridge. Clapper Bridge is close to the ruins of Wycoller Hall and probably dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. Grooves in the bridge from the weavers' clogs were allegedly chiselled flat by a farmer whose daughter was fatally injured on the bridge. Clam Bridge is possibly more than 1000 years old and is listed as an Ancient Monument. It is a single slab laid across Wycoller Beck and once had a handrail. In 1989 and again in 1990 the bridge was swept away and cracked in two. It was repaired and replaced in 1991.