Lychgate, Attached Boundary Wall And Steps At Hartley Homes

A lychgate, associated boundary wall, railings, gates, steps, flanking walls, sundial pedestal and plinth, and a retaining wall with ornamental stone balustrade built in 1911 by Sir William Pickles Hartley and Lady Hartley. These features form part of the boundary and landscaped garden of Hartley Homes almshouses. The group was renovated in 1977 to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee.

The lychgate and boundary wall run along the north side of Keighley Road, forming the southern boundary of the Hartley Homes complex, with other features located within the garden itself.

The lychgate is constructed of local ashlar stone and timber, topped by a pitched roof of Westmorland slate with pitched stone copings. Access passes through iron gates beneath an elliptical arch. Above the arch, the date 1911 is carved, with "THE HARTLEY HOMES" carved below, sandwiched between two dripcourses. Either side of the entrance are round-headed alcoves beneath round-headed dripcourses with ornate stops, both now containing modern information insets in gold lettering combining cursive and upper case script.

The low boundary wall attached to the lychgate is of local stone topped with chamfered copings into which low iron railings are set. Gates at either end of the wall give access to stepped paths leading to the east and west almshouse ranges. Steps from the lychgate lead into the garden.

At the centre of the garden stands an ornate stone pedestal, originally supporting a bronze sundial now removed for safekeeping. Each face of the pedestal is carved with Latin inscriptions: the south face reads "HORAS NON", the east face "NUMERO NISI", the north face "SERENAS", and the west face is illegible. The pedestal sits on a low two-stepped octagonal plinth surrounded by a walkway and low walls, approached from the south by a flight of stone steps with flanking walls. From the pedestal, a semi-circular flight of stone steps leads to a terrace in front of the north range of almshouses, finished on its south side by a stone retaining wall topped by an ornate stone balustrade.

Materials include dressed local stone, timber, Westmorland slate, and iron gates and railings.

Hartley Homes were erected and presented to Colne in 1911 by Sir William Pickles Hartley, founder of Hartley's jam and preserves, and Lady Hartley. The group displays a high standard of architectural quality and forms an integral part of the almshouses complex design.