Griffin Lodge

Griffin Lodge is a house, now serving as the headquarters of the Museums Area Council. It was built in the early to mid-19th century and features red brick with stone dressings and a slate roof that is hipped to the left, along with prominent ridge and end stacks. The main block is two storeys high with a three-window range and a stone plinth. It has corner pilasters with stone bases and capitals, a stone frieze, and an eaves cornice. The central porch has a round-headed entrance with double panelled doors and an overlight, flanked by small round-headed windows. The sash windows are adorned with stone architraves, and there is a raised stone band at the first-floor cill level. To the right, there is a projecting bay on the ground floor, which is an addition and features a tripartite sash window. Later wings have been added to the right and to the rear.

Inside, the richly decorated interior includes a staircase with elaborate cast-iron balusters beneath a glazed lantern, sumptuous plasterwork—especially on the cornices—and moulded chimney pieces, one of which is in Gothic style, located on the ground floor. The service wing retains two kitchen ranges: one made by W and K Dewhurst of Blackburn and the other an "Eagle" patent range with a ventilating canopy. Griffin Lodge was the home of Thomas Dugdale, an industrialist.