Holly Mount

Holly Mount is a group of three houses built under a single roof, dating from 1835. They were commissioned for the Whitehead brothers and are noted in Pevsner's architectural survey. Originally residential, the building later served as offices, with many rooms unoccupied by 1984.

The houses are constructed of sandstone ashlar with a low-pitched slate roof. Six chimneys punctuate the roofline: two along the ridge, two at each end, and two in front. The design follows a double-depth plan, unusually arranging the three houses in a continuous line. The two-storey facades are unified as a single architectural composition, with flat pilasters separating each house and each bay. A continuous band runs along the first floor, topped by a moulded cornice and a low parapet. Each house is symmetrical, featuring a central doorway and a single window on each floor in each bay. The central house is an exception, having two windows on each floor in its left bay. The doorways are framed by pilastered architraves and have round-headed doorcases with unfluted Ionic columns. One doorway has been replaced by a window. Rainwater heads in the third and sixth bays are inscribed with the letters "D & W S 1965". The rear elevation features three round-headed stairwells but is otherwise of less architectural significance or has been altered.

The interior has not been inspected, but three staircases with iron balusters and some moulded plaster cornices are visible. William Cooke Taylor’s 1842 tour of Lancashire, “Tour of the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire”, provides a historical reference (letter IV, pp. 61-67).