Pendle Heritage Centre

I bravely ventured across the border into Lancashire recently (!) to Barrowford, a town I have never visited before. The town itself was a bit of a disappointment really. Although it has an interesting history and has some very old buildings scattered around, I thought it fell just short of being picturesque.  It does, however, have this lovely old house on the outskirts. 

Once a farmhouse, Park Hill is now the Pendle Heritage Centre, a museum and visitor centre. It sits beside an ancient crossing point over the river named Pendle Water. Originally the site held a timber house and then a stone building that was enlarged and altered through the years from the 16th century. There are three different building periods visible in the frontage in my photo.  The house was for centuries the home of the Bannister family, whose most famous descendant is Sir Roger Bannister, the distinguished neurologist and athlete, the first person to run a mile in under four minutes.

Behind the Heritage Centre is a pretty 18th century walled garden and the lovely 15th century cruck- framed barn, below, that was rebuilt here in the 1980s after being moved from another site.

Inside the Heritage Centre, much of it has been left in a raw state so that you can see how the building was constructed and altered. There are interesting displays about the history of the area, including the story of the Pendle Witches, who were tried and hanged in 1612.