Empty promise
Country Life UK|January 11, 2023
Lucy Denton asks why we have so many uninhabited dwellings and what we can do to save them
Lucy Denton
Empty promise

ASSEMBLED as a gentry hall house on an upland spot near Briercliffe in Lancashire, Extwistle Hall is a striking model of the sturdy sandstone-built houses that appeared in the north of England in the 16th century. Its mullions—some with ogee moulding—large hall window and arched fireplace were typical of the manner of building styles of the period, with a cross wing, charmingly irregular roofline and a smattering of ball finials—a handsome home, surely, in this exposed moorland setting. It is empty and in ruins, picked at by vandals and frequently saturated by rain, now that the slate has been stolen and most of the windows punched out. Extwistle Hall, vacant for the past 20 years, is one of numerous stricken dwellings that should be put to good use, but which is a casualty of various factors that contribute to lack of occupation and, ultimately, dereliction.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 11, 2023 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 11, 2023 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Give it some stick
Country Life UK

Give it some stick

Galloping through the imagination, competitive hobby-horsing is a gymnastic sport on the rise in Britain, discovers Sybilla Hart

time-read
3 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Paper escapes
Country Life UK

Paper escapes

Steven King selects his best travel books of 2024

time-read
3 mins  |
December 25, 2024
For love, not money
Country Life UK

For love, not money

This year may have marked the end of brag-art’, bought merely to show off one’s wealth. It’s time for a return to looking for connoisseurship, beauty and taste

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Mary I: more bruised than bloody
Country Life UK

Mary I: more bruised than bloody

Cast as a sanguinary tyrant, our first Queen Regnant may not deserve her brutal reputation, believes Geoffrey Munn

time-read
2 mins  |
December 25, 2024
A love supreme
Country Life UK

A love supreme

Art brought together 19th-century Norwich couple Joseph and Emily Stannard, who shared a passion for painting, but their destiny would be dramatically different

time-read
5 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Private views
Country Life UK

Private views

One of the best ways-often the only way-to visit the finest privately owned gardens in the country is by joining an exclusive tour. Non Morris does exactly that

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Shhhhhh...
Country Life UK

Shhhhhh...

THERE is great delight to be had poring over the front pages of COUNTRY LIFE each week, dreaming of what life would be like in a Scottish castle (so reasonably priced, but do bear in mind the midges) or a townhouse in London’s Eaton Square (worth a king’s ransom, but, oh dear, the traffic) or perhaps that cottage in the Cotswolds (if you don’t mind standing next to Hollywood A-listers in the queue at Daylesford). The estate agent’s particulars will give you details of acreage, proximity to schools and railway stations, but never—no, never—an indication of noise levels.

time-read
2 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Mission impossible
Country Life UK

Mission impossible

Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its rescue. Josephine Tyndale-Biscoe tells the story

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024
When a perfect storm hits
Country Life UK

When a perfect storm hits

Weather, wars, elections and financial uncertainty all conspired against high-end house sales this year, but there were still some spectacular deals

time-read
6 mins  |
December 25, 2024
Give the dog a bone
Country Life UK

Give the dog a bone

Man's best friend still needs to eat like its Lupus forebears, believes Jonathan Self, when it's not guarding food, greeting us or destroying our upholstery, of course

time-read
4 mins  |
December 25, 2024