Forest house was built between the years 1815 - 1817 the owner at the time being a Henry Lord Esq,  he died on the 17th June 1819 aged 48 years leaving a widow Sarah who died in May 1833.  The house cost £17,000 to build a great deal of money at the time.  The house was actually built by a Mr Foster of Slack, Near Halifax who later married Henrys daughter Elizabeth in 1824 sadly she died at the age of 24 and was buried with her parents in St Johns churchyard Bacup in 1927.  At the time of its build several persons contracted for it one of these being Thomas Atkinson and his elder brother Matthew. The brothers it seems spent quite a lot of time at the New Inn on Rochdale Road, a regular meeting place for travellers of the whole area.

 

The earliest mention of Forest House is in Barnes directory of 1824. Of which it is described as one of the seats of gentry and nobility of Lancashire. By 1845 the house was occupied by a calico and silk printer by the name of Frederick Moore.

 

It would appear from census returns and other articles that  Forest House was split into separate residences. At one time however Forest House was the home of Joshua and Ann Lord, Ann being the daughter of James Smith owner of Tong Mill who lived at Bankside House their son W H Lord being born their in 1848.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joshua pictured below right was born at Old Meadows in 1807 at a young age  he was apprenticed to a grocer  in Burnley named Mr Howorth. After marrying Ann he returned to Bacup and became a member of the firm of James Smith and Sons. The couple had five children sons named below and two daughters Martha and Mary Ann. In 1871 when Richard Smith retired Joshua took over the business, taking on his three sons as partners, James Smith Lord, William Henry Lord, and Richard Lord,  Joshua died on 1st June 1876. Followed four years later by his eldest son James Smith Lord, who died at Forest House aged 44 in 1880. By 1887 the firm of Joshua Lord and Sons was in trouble and in 1887 Tong Mill was put up for auction. Richard continued to live with his mother Ann at Bankside and is shown in the 1881 living there with her. Whilst William Henry lived at Carlton House with his wife Ann who had one daughter, William died in 1906.

 

 

 

In 1848 the records show the house is occupied by Dr Wm Stewart and  his family and the Rev Thomas Clark. Eleven years later a John Roberts builder and owner of New Hey Mill was living there he died in 1861 and by 1864 the house was now lived in by the owner of Albion Mill,  George Cooper Harrison. Other tenants over the following years were Henry Salmon grocer 1871 by 1874 the house had come into the ownership of Miss Holt of Stubylee the tenants of the house at this time were John S Lord and William Bentham.

 

 

Forest House in 1891 was occupied by several people one of these families was the Barclay family. Dr William Bowie Barclay and his wife Amy, nee Bentham   The second son of Mr and Mrs Robert Barclay he was born in Kilwinning Ayshire and studied at eh Anderson college Glasgow and at the age of 21 took the degrees of L.R.C.P. and L.R.C.S at Edinburgh six years later he took the degree of D.P.H at Victoria University Manchester. Taking over the practice of Dr Snell in Bacup almost immediately he was greatly involved with the St John Ambulance brigade and highly regarded as a lecturer with them.  By 1902 Dr Rigby had taken up residence in the house followed in 1908 by Dr S T Brooks and his family.

 

The house continued to house various families and in 1948 it was offered for sale to the Bacup and Rawtenstall Education Committee By 1959 the house had been made into flats and eventually became Bobbins Bistrotheque. By 1977 the house had fallen into decay when the owner a Sam Henderson was declared bankrupt. Several years of argument and disputes followed in which time the house continued to decay. But in 1985 work began turning the house into a nursing home and by 1991 the work had been completed.