AN 18th century mansion in the Ribble Valley has won a national award for architecture.

Townhead mansion in Slaidburn, which was built in 1732, picked up the Best Restoration of a Georgian Country House at a glittering the Georgian Group Awards ceremony in London on Tuesday.

The award was presented to owner Robert Staples by The Marquess of Salisbury at the Christie's Auction House.

The Grade II listed house, which was restored with the help of Brewster Bye Architects, won one of seven categories on the night, with 75 buildings vying for a prize through the whole competition.

The mansion had fallen into rack and ruin after almost 40 years of neglect but after being taken over five years ago by new owners, hundreds of thousands of pounds were spent to restore the property to its former glory.

As a result of the extensive work, which included completely replacing the roof and repairing the floors and stonework, the mansion was taken off English Heritage’s ‘Heritage At Risk’ register in October.

The mansion was built by Henry Wigglesworth using materials from an earlier house on the site which was incorporated into the new building.

Significant alterations were carried out in the early 19th century as the property changed ownership from the Wigglesworths to the King-Wilkinsons at auction in 1855.

The mansion was used as a family home until the start of the 1900s, when it was primarily used as a shooting lodge until the start of the Second World War.

It housed evacuees from East London during the war and was then used to prepare meals for Slaidburn’s primary school until the 1970s when it was abandoned.

Much of the history of the house was lost when a bomb fell on the owner’s Blackburn offices.

The new owners are now using the mansion as a family home.

Charles Smith, principal ‘Heritage at Risk’ adviser for English Heritage in the North West, said: “We’re delighted that the hard work of Townhead’s owners has been celebrated with a Georgian Group Architectural Award – it is well deserved.

“This important house, which had been on English Heritage’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ Register for a number of years, has found a new lease of life with the wonderful restoration work which has been recently completed and is an excellent example of what can be achieved.”