A hundred years ago there were scores of Clarion Houses dotted across the North West, London and Scotland. This is the last remaining one, providing a monument to the Clarion societies that provided fellowship and community to working people and helped spread the word of socialism.
The Last Clarion House
Watch the 2017 documentary about The Last Clarion House, directed by Charlotte Bill. The film was produced by Clapham Film Unit and Clarion House, and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund:
The Nelson ILP Clarion Society keep the building open, serving refreshments to ramblers and cyclists each Sunday and providing an opportunity to meet with local socialists.
Clarion House is an non-profit making co-operative, planned as a model of how society as a whole ought to be organised. It aims to provide a vision of a socialist society based on co-operation and fellowship. The location for Clarion House was a place of recognised natural beauty in the hope that the rest of the world would come to resemble it through physical, moral and social beauty.
Previously Clarion House was located at Thorneyholme Square in Roughlee, then moved to Nabs Farm before the third, current site was built in 1912. The building project was funded by a loan of £350 from the Nelson Weavers Association.