Today we're heading to the enchanting fairytale Hamlet of Wycoller with its beautiful 15th-century
packhorse bridge and Hall ruins. This is a bonus video that we filmed as we drove across the
county border into Lancashire, so not part of our Yorkshire travel series. Driving around the roads
of Yorkshire and Lancashire is a true Delight with wonderful scenery at almost every turn.
We were heading to Wycoller to film a section of our Railway children video at the start of
our travel series but we've subsequently found out that it also does have a Bronte connection,
so keep watching to find out more. The Hamlet is remote and tiny and cars are excluded unless you
live there, so you need to park about half a mile outside, in a car park and start a lovely
walk past some fields with grazing sheep. This sleepy village now forms part of a beautiful
country park, there are many trails you can walk and it's a great spot for a picnic on a sunny day.
The Wycoller Beck runs through the village archaeology suggests a settlement and
community were here back as far as the Stone Age.
It was a small sheep farming community in the 17th century and then a successful hand-loom weaving
village in the 18th century with the majority of villagers practising this trade. Their prosperity
was short-lived as powered Mills took over and the village declined and was almost abandoned.
Today there are a few quaint homes dotted along the narrow lane running
down to the river and a small tea room, open on certain days to grab a cupper.
This is the Packhorse Bridge believed to be 15th century although some argue it's even older.
It has two arches that are not of equal size so it looks like it's going to fall over at any point.
The Beck is crossed by no less than seven bridges but this is one of the more famous.
A wonderful ford runs across the river at this point for the few vehicles allowed across.
Take care crossing as the smooth slabs can be
slippery when wet owing to hundreds of years of wear.
It was here that in the film The Railway Children
Dr Forrest greets Bobby as he rides through the ford on his pony and trap.
The bridges outlived Wycoller Hall which crumbles beautifully beside the Beck.
This late 16th-century Hall is believed to have been the inspiration for Ferndean Manor
in Charlotte Bronte's novel "Jane Eyre". I have to say I didn't know this until after we produced our
walking in the footsteps video of the Bronte sisters. Charlotte would have passed through
here on her way to Gawthorpe Hall where she would stay with friends, the Kay-Shuttleworths.
Charlotte's description of Ferndean Manor fit's Wycoller Hall perfectly.
The site originally belonged to the Hartley family and this Hall was built in the place
of a previous dwelling owned by them. In the 18th century then owned by the Cunliffe family,
the last Squire, Owen Cunliffe embarked on a large and extravagant alteration.
A heavy gambler Cunliffe borrowed money against Wycoller Hall to fund the building
work and he died in substantial debt in 1818. The hall fell into disrepair with
the villagers plundering stones from it for their own building projects.
These are the incredible remains of the fireplace and to the right a keyhole opening, its use unknown
The friends of Wycoller were founded in 1948 and began to campaign to conserve the historic
village. The entire area was sold in 1973 to Lancashire County Council which declared the
entire village a conservation area and designated the surrounding 350 acres as a Country Park.
Another of the Seven Bridges is across from the hall. "Clapper Bridge" sometimes called "Druids
Bridge" is a basic structure made of three massive flat gritstone slabs resting on two stone piers.
The bridge has succumbed to flooding over the years and has had to be reconstructed a few times.
There is a legend that says this bridge led to a grove where Druids
practised their "strange rituals" not that you'll find any evidence
of this. It just seems the perfect rustic crossing for its surroundings.
It is thought to date from the 16th to the 17th century, though a
few historians think it might date from the Norman Conquest.
Wycoller was a surprisingly beautiful, peaceful place to spend some time and
we highly recommend you visit to enjoy the tranquility of this little Hamlet.
Do join us again this weekend when we continue our
Yorkshire travel series. Thanks for watching the memory Seekers.