THIS was the house of Colonel Robert Raynsford Jackson, chairman of the textile employers’ federation.

Taken in May 1878, Clayton Grange, Clayton-le-Dale, the house was reduced to a burnt shell by rioting cotton workers.

Bosses decided to reduce workers’ wages by 10 per cent because of bad trade.

But, this did not go down too well with the workers who staged a riot and stormed the Colonel’s house.

The colonel and his family managed to escape before the mob arrived to do £12,000 worth of damage.

During day two of the riot, 64 houses in Preston New Road had their windows broken.

The ring leader,a man called Smalley, was later sentenced to 15 years penal servitude and eight others jailed from anywhere between 12 months to 15 years.

Clayton Grange was rebuilt, but demolished in 1955.