VISITORS to Burnley's Towneley Hall will be able to view never seen before areas and brand new exhibitions this summer when work is completed on a new wing.

For the first time, servants' quarters in the east of the grand hall will be open including their dining area.

Curator Susan Bourne said work on the £1.3m Heritage Lottery-funded facelift was on schedule for a re-opening on August 23.

She said: "There are three aims for the project. They are to make the building and collections more accessible, getting collections on display and improving facilities with modern techniques such as computer displays."

She said the work on the hall would give greater regard to wheelchair users, the elderly and those with baby buggies. Lifts are being added and floors raised so these visitors will have access to areas they had previously had to miss.

Those with eyesight problems will be able to read displays more easily when they are eventually all accompanied by information in large print.

The east wing was demolished in 1928 and is being rebuilt with local materials including stone from a Rawtenstall quarry.

Susan said: "The original wing was higgledy piggledy and had a slate roof lavatory. The new building will be the same footprint as the original building. It will have traditional style stone mullions."

It will also have a new shop area in a modern style with steel pillars and outside lights in a sharp contrast to its traditional surroundings.

The shop in the entrance hall will be cleared out leaving just the traditional area and vast space, which Susan feels will be more dramatic.

An ante-room off the hall is to become an 'orientation' area containing computers enabling people to have a virtual tour of the hall. New collections will include a room dedicated to the East Lancashire Regiment, Egyptology, Kashmiri embroidery and the history of regional furniture.

Towneley Hall is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and between noon to 5pm on Sundays.

Admission is free.