THESE pictures from the archive document the highs - and lows - of another of the great ‘lost’ houses of East Lancashire.

Witton House was built in the 1800s for one of Blackburn’s richest families - the Feildens. The textile magnates loved an impressive house - they also owned they also owned nearby Woodfold Hall and Feniscowles Hall.

By the 1850s, Joseph Feilden had extended the original design and the home boasted 18 bedrooms and 16 full time staff were employed there. There are also records of an intriguingly-named ‘Monkey House’ which had cages in it, perhaps to house the Feildens’ pet collection!

Joseph Feilden was a major benefactor to Blackburn funding churches and schools and he even provided the land for Blackburn Royal Infirmary, the town’s market hall and town hall.

On his death in 1870 crowds of lined the streets.

Successive generations of the Feildens spent less time at Witton House and during the Second World War wounded servicemen were given the chance to recuperate there.

After the war Blackburn Council bought Witton Park including the house for £64,000 for the town and its people. Sadly the house was badly affected by dry rot by this stage and it was judged uneconomic to repair it and it was demolished in 1952.

The main picture shows the future King Edward VII visiting the Feildens at Witton House with his wife, the future Queen Alexandra in 1888.

A large sign - Salve, Latin for welcome - was placed above the main entrance of the house. As a souvenir of their visit, the royal couple were presented with a pair of clogs on an ebony stand.

They had come to Blackburn to lay the foundation stone for the new Technical School.