Hardcragg Hall

Hardcragg Hall is a house, now operating as a hotel and restaurant, dating to the 17th century, with extensive restoration carried out in the 17th century style around 1900. It is built of painted roughcast with a slate roof, and has an L-shaped plan. The exterior features windows with plain reveals, oak mullions, and diamond leaded glazing. The east facade has a two-window range, with an 8-light bay window with a transom in the right-hand bay. Other windows are of 4 lights; the left-hand ground-floor window has a transom. A rainwater hopper inscribed 'N P 1764' is located to the left of the bay window. The right-hand gable chimney has rounded shafts. The south gable wall has a 5-light bay window with a transom on the ground floor and a 4-light window above, while to the left is a five-window range. The left-hand ground-floor window in the south range has stepped lights, the other ground-floor windows are of 5 lights, the right-hand one with transom. The first-floor windows are of 4 lights, except for the third, above the porch, which is a cross-window. A single-storey gabled porch has a sundial in its front wall, apparently made of artificial stone and dated '1663'. A lead rainwater pipe to the right of the porch has an upper hopper inscribed 'RCL 1734' and a lower hopper inscribed '19 WTM 0-, S - [?]'. A lead hopper inscribed 'C W M 1770' is located between the first and second windows. Chimneys are on the left-hand gable. The interior ground-floor rooms are lined with oak panelling in a 17th century style, incorporating 17th century woodwork. Above a 19th-century fireplace at the south end of the east wing is a timber inscribed 'TDM 1666', while above a spice cupboard door is the date '1685'. The entrance hall contains a staircase with splat balusters. The house was acquired around 1860 by a member of the Townley family of Burnley, and WG Marshal Townley was born there in 1869. It is recorded that Beatrix Potter was a friend of the family and may have met the original of Pigling Bland at Hard Cragg.