21 miles from Grassington
Wycoller is a small, pretty hamlet, just over the border
in Lancashire. In the 16th century Wycoller would have
been a busy farming and weaving community, but the coming
of the power looms led to the village's decline, and
a hundred years ago Wycoller was all but abandoned.
Over the years the stone from twenty or thirty buildings
was taken and used elsewhere, and nowadays there are
just a handful of well tended buildings, and the ruins.
The ruins of Wycoller Hall dominate the village, and
are believed to be the inspiration for Ferndean Manor
in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre. The Brontes lived
in nearby Haworth, and would almost certainly have visted
Wycoller at some time. The Hall was built for the Hartley
family towards the end of the 16th century.
"The manor-house of Ferndean was a building of
considerable antiquity, moderate size, and no architectural
pretensions, deep buried in a wood... Even when within
a very short distance of the manor-house, you could
see nothing of it, so thick and dark grew the timber
of the gloomy wood about it. Iron gates between granite
pillars showed me where to enter, and passing through
them, I found myself at once in the twilight of close-ranked
trees. There was a grass-grown track descending the
forest aisle between hoar and knotty shafts and under
branched arches." - from Jane Eyre.
'The Friends of Wycoller' were established in 1948
to preserve Wycoller Hall and the village itself. The
Lancashire County Council bought the land in 1973 and
the village has now been designated a Country Park.
Restoration work on Wycoller Hall began in the 1950's
and the impressive fireplace has been rebuilt with help
from The Friends.
Wycoller Beck runs through the centre of the village,
and is a pretty place for kids to play in the summer.
The three old bridges at Wycoller are interesting and
are steeped in history. Why not try the CF
walk that takes in all three?
Clapper Bridge is almost next to to the ruins of Wycoller
Hall and dates from the end of the 18th century. Consisting
of three gritstone slabs resting on two supports, this
is also known as 'Druids Bridge'. Supposedly, grooves
in the bridge from weavers' clogs were chiselled out
by a farmer whose only daughter tripped and died on
the bridge.
The Pack-Horse Bridge at Wycoller is a very old, twin
arched bridge, probably about 900 years old, and rebuilt
several times over the years. Also known as Sally's
Bridge, after Sally Owen, mother of a Wycoller Squire.
There is another, even older bridge, further up stream
maybe over 1000 years old, and listed as an Ancient
Monument. 'Clam Bridge' is a single huge stone slab
laid over the beck It was badly damaged and repaired
twice recently, in the floods of 1989 and 1990.
There is a cafe and a craft
centre, and free car parking.
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