Bridge
House, 23 School Lane, is a stone-built semi-detached house, with the
other half being Manor House, formerly Wernath House). Bridge House
has been in a state of disrepair since at least 1985 (see Peter
Wright's History and the Parish
Council Newsletter, Summer 2000).
The Junior School was built
on the site of Miss Mary Pilkington's National School, opened in 1857.
The two cottages (Bridge and Manor Houses) were built in 1867 for
Miss Pilkington's Training, Laundry and Cooking School, which opened
in 1871.
For some time there has
been an interest in building more houses adjacent to the Manor Estate
on the old Waterways Land, which lies behind the house. Access
to the land has been an issue that, so far, successive developers
have not been able to resolve.
Sadly, to add to its woes,
Bridge House was further damaged by an accidental fire caused by a
stray firework at the end of 1999.
At the time of writing (2010),
the future of this blot on the landscape seems uncertain. Perhaps
it will be restored. Sad that an
area can be blighted in this way. The building, if restored, would certainly be an asset to the village.
Until July 2001,
there had been no attempt to restore Bridge House; however, work
then started to make good the building (to the extent of putting
a roof on, at least) to prevent damage to the adjoining residence,
Manor House.
Happily, since the above was written, the building has been purchased and is in the process of being restored (2012). |
