Wycoller Hall was a late 16th-century Manor House in the village of Wycoller. The hall was the centre of a sizeable estate, but subsequently fell into disrepair – the ruins are now Grade II listed and form part of Wycoller Country Park.

Wycoller is well-known for its three ancient bridges, including this incredible 800-year-old packhorse bridge.

Fans of the film, ‘The Railway Children’ starring Jenny Agutter may recognise this bridge. In a sequence from the film, Bobbie (Jenny Agutter) is seen sitting on the bridge, talking to Dr Forrest who is driving his pony and trap through the ford.

Wycoller Hall was built by the Hartley family and extended in the 18th by Squire Henry Owen Cunliffe.

Building work took over a year to complete, during which time an ornate porch and larger windows were constructed. The interior was improved by the addition of a very grand fireplace.

The squire mortgaged his property to pay for the works and when he died in 1818 leaving many debts.

Charlotte Brontë is thought to have frequently visited Wycoller village in her many walks around the area. The Hall is also believed by some to be ‘Ferndean Manor’ in her novel ‘Jane Eyre’ and was used to illustrate the 1898 edition.

Although the Hall appears to have remained reasonably intact until the early 1900’s much of it was unoccupied and neglected. Stone was subsequently plundered for other buildings. The ornamental porch went first to Trawden and then to Foulridge, while flagstones and steps have been used in local walls.

Under the ownership of the Water Board, the village fell into disrepair. The Friends of Wycoller were established in 1948 to preserve the village and in particular the Hall. Some restoration work began in 1950, principally rebuilding the fireplace.

Ghost Stories

Wycoller and Wycoller Hall also became the site of several ghost stories. One such concerns the murder of the wife of one of the squires of the hall, one Simon Cunliffe.

During the reign of King Charles II, the squire and his hunt were pursuing a fox. The fox ran into the hall and up into the woman’s chamber.

The hounds pursued it and attacked it, with Simon Cunliffe riding his horse into the hall and up the stairs.

Finding his wife terrified at the scene, he cursed her cowardice and raised his hunting crop as if to strike her. She then died of fright.

The squire is supposedly still seen at night returning to the hall, dressed in the costume of the early Stuart era.

The noise of his horse clattering across the bridge and up to the hall door, and then up the stairs can be heard, followed by a woman’s screams.

The ghost then returns the way he came. He supposedly is seen once a year, during stormy weather when darkness has fallen.

There is also an apparition reputable of a lady in black seen on occasions at the windows.