Dyke Nook Lodge, 270 Whalley Road, Accrington

Note - Dates vary. Local sources give 1907 others, including Pevsner, state 1910-11. Gertude Jeykell’s garden plans certainly date from 1907

Built for Hubert Blake in a local vernacular style to the designs of Walter Brierley with gardens by Gertrude Jeykell.

The Blake family were an important part of Accrington’s history. In 1854 John Blake, aged 18,  invented, and afterwards patented, a scientific steam pressure reducing valve. He was not a large employer of labour, but his machinery was exported to all parts of the globe. He began working at Christie's foundry and then purchased premises in Oxford Street. He later invented a hydraulic ram for raising water which earned him fame and fortune (his rams are used at Taj Mahal in India, Sandringham Palace, and Blenheim Palace, to name a few) He had three sons and one daughter, one of his sons, Hubert, built Dyke Nook. The family were greatly connected with Sacred Heart Church.

The house was purchased by Sir William Cocker in 1947 and in 1965 opened as a Lancashire County Council children’s home. By 2007 the building was boarded up and semi- derelict. It was purchased and restored about 2009 and is again a private residence.