Towneley Hall, Burnley

I have to admit to a 'soft spot' for Towneley Hall and Park - and Polly likes the park 'cos its got squirrels that run about on the ground (before they disappear up trees).
For 500 years it was owned by the Towneleys - a wealthy Catholic family. When, in 1902, the last Towneley descendant decided she no longer wanted the vast hall, the artworks and furniture went with her. The council inherited a huge late-medieval, part Elizabethan, part late-Georgian manor house – empty. 
Thanks to a bequest from the Victorian local brewing magnate Edward Stocks Massey the hall is now full of stunning paintings, furniture and ceramics, much of it from Lancashire.