Gawthorpe Hall, home of the Shuttleworths for over two centuries, although not always occupied by them, is an early Jacobean house ‘Elizabethanised’ by Sir Charles Barry in 1851. This work was commissioned by Dr James Phillips Kay (1804–1877), the celebrated educationalist and writer, who entertained Charlotte Bronte and Mrs Gaskell there. He was the husband of Janet Shuttleworth (1817–1872), whom he married in 1842. Gawthorpe is known for its plasterwork ceilings, old oak and Pugin-designed furniture and particularly for the Gawthorpe Craft House. The Craft House was founded by the last family occupier, the Honourable Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth (1886–1967), in the first half of the 1960s for the study and practice of textiles and embroidery, based upon her own remarkable collections. Gawthorpe was given to the National Trust by her nephew, Major Charles Kay-Shuttleworth (1917–1975), 4th Baron Shuttleworth, in 1972, with Lancashire County Council taking a 99-year fully repairing lease.