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A Much Loved Local Landmark
This c.18 foot high Grade II listed landmark, which sits on the top of Kerridge Hill overlooking Bollington and Rainow is visible for miles around. Its outline provides the logo for the town of Bollington. The small rectangle in the logo represents the door that used to provide entry.
White Nancy was actually built as a summer house by the Gaskell family, who lived below the hill at Ingersley Hall, in about 1815. It is thought that it may have been built at that time to commemorate the battle of Waterloo.
During 1999 Nancy was completely repaired, re-plastered and repainted by local contractor Allen Stringer. He also gave her a coat of anti-graffiti wax but unfortunately this was damaged by vandals who later painted the monument with house paint.
Stone paving has been laid around the base of Nancy in the form of a compass. N, E, W and S have been inscribed in the appropriate points
It is currently kept in its pristine white state with a regular repaint from the Kerridge Ridge and Ingersley Vale Group Volunteers.
More information about the history of White Nancy can be found on the Happy Valley website.
Kerridge Hill
The Kerridge Steps
In order to improve accessibility up the steep and often slippery hill the Town Council decided that a proper path should be constructed from the road that crosses the north face of the hill to the top. This project became known as the Kerridge Steps.
In 2003 experts from Cumbria, where they have considerable experience in building paths and steps on hillsides, constructed a pitched stone path.
It is still a tough climb, both up and down but is tackled by thousands of walkers a year.
The Woodland Path
The volunteers working on the Kerridge Ridge and Ingersley Vale project built a new path up Kerridge Hill. It begins on the middle road about 10m downhill from the cattle grid at the bottom of the stone steps and meanders through the trees until suddenly White Nancy appears on the horizon. It is constructed in flights of wooden steps and can be slippery in wet seasons.
White Nancy Over the Years
Originally constructed of stone and with an opening revealing a large stone slab inside, White Nancy has had many different “looks” over the years.
The door was eventually filled in and the stone skimmed over to produce the smoother surface we see today. There are mixed opinions about exactly when this happened with some people recalling it was done in the 60s and others being sure they had seen the inside in the early 70s (this may have been possible as it was vandalised from time to time)
It has also been the canvas for many themed paint jobs, some more welcome than others.
We have included a selection of photos on this page but you can see some more of the historic photographs in the Discovery Centre Bollington Photo Archive
A few More White Nancy Pictures
