MARY Tudor was on the throne when builders were putting the finishing touches to a hunting lodge on the easterly edge of Darwen moors. They did a good job. It’s still there and, after some 460 years, it is the oldest house in Darwen.

The 1550s was a decade of upheaval, both religious and royal. Henry VIII had died in 1547, Edward VI became king when he was just a boy, and when he died in 1553 leading politicians made Lady Jane Grey queen. Mary saw her off by force and snatched the crown.

Mary died in 1558, and her re-establishment of Roman Catholicism was reversed by her younger half-sister and successor, Elizabeth I.

However, back in Darwen, the hunting lodge, built to complement the newly-renovated ancient, fortified manor house of Hoghton Tower, was put to good use by the de Hoghton family and their guests.

It was six miles from the tower to White Hall ideal for a hunting party, and the builders were soon back working on an extension for staff. There would probably have been a cook and a housekeeper, a gardener and an ostler.

In the following 450 years and more there have been several extensions to the property, the last in the late Victorian era.

A heavy, stone mantelpiece from the house is now positioned outside on the base of a small conservatory. It has the initials RH, presumably for Sir Richard de Hoghton, and the date, 1557.

It’s not surprising that in view of the religious upheaval while it was being built there is a priest hole and a small underground cell with a tiny, barred window.

What the house doesn’t have is a selection of photographs and paintings covering parts of its long history.

Until now.

Local artists have struggled to find a suitable aspect because of all the trees and bushes that now envelop the house. Cue photographer Danny Grear, who lives round the corner.

His company, Retinair, is a photography and videography business which specialises in aerial imagery, event filming and live-streaming. By using drones and poles, they are able to get unusual angles, and an exactness of scale. They help to market property and businesses and work with several local estate agents in the sale of millions of pounds-worth of local property.

Danny has taken some great shots of White Hall, high above and between the greenery, including two published here. And now a couple of local artists are all set to try their hand with it.

The de Hoghtons sold the Whitehall estate in 1805 and Richard Hilton, recognised as Darwen’s first industrialist, bought it and moved into the lodge.

His company began with calico bleaching and moved on to paper-making. One of his sons, Edward, later lived at the house which is now separated into three dwellings.