Built in 1869 by Mr Henry Hoyle Hardman who was the son of George Hardman. Henry died in 1888 but his wife Emily continued to live there until she died a few years later in 1896. The house passed to Annie Hardman, and she lived there until about 1903. The house and its contents were then sold to a Mr. Roland Rawlinson.
Lancashire County Council operated a care home for the elderly at the house until some time in the 1980s. The home was sold in 1993 and was turned into a hotel and function venue. The company that owned the property was dissolved on June 2009 and the hotel was closed.
Another weekend, another soaked rotten house.
Cat had expressed an interest in this, which meant I had an excuse to venture back to mill country, and plus the house was built by a mill owner, and so I figured it would be great to see what the men who made all that money on cotton spent it on!
Well, Mr Hardman obviously had plenty of dough to spend on his pad. Fine plaster ceilings in all the downstairs rooms, Minton and parquet floors in abundance and a hall of a skylight over the rather grand staircase.
There was some fine wood carving above the fire place in one room, above what was obviously meant to be 'secret' cupboards disguised as paneling.
The whole place is rotten as a bugger, tumbling down from every corner. However it looks like some floors have been removed recently rather than collapsing on their own. Hard to believe it has been derelict for only 6 years!