A 200-YEAR-OLD mystery surrounding the name of a Whalley house looks set to continue when it goes under the hammer.

Ankie and David Wild are leaving "The Marjorie" after 20 years none the wiser as to the origins of the name.

The house, which nestles on the banks of the River Calder near Whalley Nab, has been feted by artists across the centuries, including Turner in his "Dyers Washing and Dying Cloth" which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1811.

Writer Candida Lycett Green, the daughter of John Betjeman, gave the house prominence in her landmark pictorial, "Country Cottages of England".

The house has appeared on the cover of countless glossy magazines and even a telephone directory, Ankie pointed out.

Theories concerning the name abound, one of them that the weir was used for the ducking of witches. One Marge Pearson, of Padiham, was among those cited in the Lancashire witch trials, although the charge was dismissed. "Marjorie" was also a Lancashire dialect word for cat, while it is believed the house was also described by Harrison Ainsworth in his "The Lancashire Witches" novel.

Others argue that before the Industrial Revolution the River Calder was a haven for mussels and their highly-prized black seed pearls, "majolica" being the Latin term for a form of opalescent pottery popular in the last century and "margarom" being Greek for pearl.

The puzzled couple, who used to own the Ribchester Museum of Childhood, fell in love with the house when they saw it, although its name has caused them frustration.

"When the house changes hands, the new owners will receive more than just the keys," Ankie said. "They will inherit a centuries-old mystery, too!"

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.