Drawing 374: White Craggs, Clappersgate
Direction of view: W
Notes: White Craggs is at the western end of Clappersgate, up a steep private drive. The house is now divided into three apartments and the grounds are no longer open to passers-by as noted by Wainwright and photographed by Joseph Hardman; nor are they as well maintained as in Wainwright’s day. Due to this, it is not possible to replicate the sketch, but a photo of the house from approximately the same angle can be taken.
A small portion of this sketch appears on page 367 of Westmorland Heritage.
Comments: This sketch might be twinned with 332, which is close by. I first took this picture on slide film on 29th June 1977; first visited for the digital project on 31st August 2014.
A better picture was obtained on 26th March 2017, on a visit with Anne Setright. The daffodils in the grounds were magnificent, and the lighting on the house just right. We went on to do a lovely walk up Loughrigg Fell, and down to Skelwith Bridge.
The house is Arts & Crafts, designed by architect Dan Gibson (of Brockhole fame: see Drawing 321), and built in just 11 months in 1904 – 5. It was built for Charles Henry Hough, a surgeon; he loved alpine plants and had the 3.5 acres of gardens designed by William Purdom, famed as a plant hunter, to display his collection. The Archives in Kendal contain photos of the gardens by Joseph Hardman, and a book, “Story of a Westmorland rock garden” is dedicated to them.
