Spode House

This is a follow-up on two reader comments from yesterday’s post.  Richard provided some information about the following photo.

His information assisted me in finding a reasonable amount of data on the building.   It is Hawksyard Hall.  The first hall was built on the site in 1337AD but by 1660AD it was in ruins.  In 1760AD the estate was purchased by Nathaniel Lister, the MP for Clitheroe following his marriage to Martha Fletcher and they commissioned the new country house in the Gothic style.

Josiah Spode IV, the great grandson of Josiah Spode who founded Spode pottery, bought the estate in 1840 and did extensive renovations and additions.  It was during this period it was known as Spode House.  Six tunnels were built around the estate to allow workers to move quickly between locations unseen.

On his death the estate went to his niece, Helen Gulson who had a vision of the Virgin Mary in the gardens.  She gave the hall, church and grounds to the Domincans and moved to another house on the estate.  The Domincans quit the estate in 1988 and by then the hall was starting to fall into disrepair and was boarded up.

In 1999 the Hall was purchased by the Whorton family who decided to revert to using the original name of Hawksyard Hall.  They restored the Hall and established a conference and events centre.

In yesterday’s post I mentioned we had previously been this way and not noticed the building.  After looking at our old Pearsons Canal Guide I’ve realized it’s probably because the guide identifies a building at this location as “Spode Cottage”.  This is the largest cottage I’ve ever seen!

Blog reader Don left a comment regarding the alternator.  He suggested the fault could be sticking or worn carbon brushes and it shouldn’t be too difficult a job to replace them.  I’ve been thinking the same thing and then happened to read a recent post from nb Derwent 6 where Al describes a similar intermittent fault which was identified as a problem with one of the brushes.  Whilst I could strip down the alternator and check this myself I’ve decided that on this occasion I’ll let Cox’s Automotive do the work and confirm (or refute) Don’s and my diagnosis.  If we are correct then next time it happens I’ll do the work myself.