Towneley Hall: Restoration work ‘progressing on schedule’ with historic building set to temporarily close

The Grade I Listed hall will close to the public from June 16th while the final phase of work is carried out, with a phased re-opening planned from early spring 2025.

The overall restoration programme includes re-roofing each of the hall’s three wings, repairs to stone and timber work, restoring the ornate plaster ceiling in the great hall and repairing and repainting more than 130 windows.

Major repairs began on the hall in October 2022, and are being undertaken by Historic Property Restorations under the supervision of conservation architects Knox McConnell.

Burnley Council's head of green space and amenities Simon Goff said: "Re-roofing of the west wing was completed in August 2023, together with substantial repairs to high level stone work. Repairs to the ornate plaster ceiling in the great hall have commenced and are expected to complete in December 2024, culminating in the great hall being repainted to the original colour scheme from the 1730s. This was identified by carefully removing the many paint layers that had been applied over the last 300 years and all will be revealed when the great hall reopens in 2025.

"Re-roofing of the south wing has just been completed. The re-roofing work includes removal of all the old slates, repairs to roofing timber, replacement of lead gutters and re-slating with new slates that have been supplied by a quarry in the Lake District. The temporary roof that is currently covering the south wing will be removed before the Whitsun Holidays and the remainder of scaffolding around the south wing to be removed as soon as the holiday is over."

Simon said that following a suggestion from a local resident, they are also hoping to install some swift nesting boxes under the eaves of the south wing, together with bat boxes before the scaffolding comes down.

Before any scaffolding could be put up, the council also employed a specialist firm to remove a hive of approximately 30,000 bees that were resident within the wall of the north tower. The bees were successfully relocated to hives at Safran Nacelles Ltd in Heasandford Industrial estate, and the lead grills through which the bees previously came and went have been made bee proof.

Simon added: "The final phase of the project has commenced and visitors to Towneley will see that scaffolding is currently being erected around the north wing of the hall, (nearest to the entrance and shop) in preparation for the re-roofing of this wing."As each wing of the hall has been scaffolded, the contractors have repaired, and in some cases replaced, and repainted all of the hall’s 130 windows."The Towneley clock, located above the main entrance to the great hall, has also been restored thanks to a very generous donation by the Towneley Hall Society."Behind the scenes, the hall staff are involved in the huge task of moving the hall’s invaluable collections of paintings, fine art, furniture and historic items. Many items have been removed to secure external storage whilst others are being stored internally."

The hall shop, public toilets, the Museum of Local Crafts and Industries, and the surrounding park and cafes will all remain open as usual while the hall is closed. Scroll down to take a look at our Towneley Hall gallery: