Stirk House Wedding Photographer
Hello there,
I’m Dave from Dave Waller Photography, and if you’ve landed here you’re probably planning your wedding at Stirk House in Gisburn.
Stirk House is a 1635 manor house sitting in twenty-two acres of the Ribble Valley, with Pendle Hill on the horizon. It has been marrying couples for over twenty years, and it has something most venues round here don’t: two licensed outdoor ceremony spots, including an ancient sycamore with decking and fairy lights underneath it.
It’s a venue that gives you options, and that matters more than people expect when the Lancashire weather does what Lancashire weather does.
Real Weddings at Stirk House
SOPHIE & DEC | STIRK HOUSE WEDDING
My Wedding Photography Approach
Every couple, every wedding, every venue is different, and that is how I approach your day.
When I photograph a wedding at Stirk House I’m there to tell the story of it — the real moments, the quiet ones, and the big ones — rather than to run the day. Documentary photography for most of it, and relaxed portraits that feel like you.
Stirk House gives us a lot of ground to play with. Twenty-two acres, woodland, the tree, the patio, the Pendle views. We can make something that doesn’t look like everybody else’s wedding without ever taking you far from your guests.
Stirk House at a Glance
Photographing a Wedding at Stirk House
Knowing a venue well changes what you come away with. Here is how a day at Stirk House tends to run from behind the camera, and what is worth planning for.
The Stirk Tree is the one. An ancient sycamore with decking and fairy lights beneath it, reached down a gravel path. It is genuinely unusual, and it is the picture people remember from a Stirk House wedding.
Have the wet weather conversation early. If you’re marrying outdoors the venue has to hold the Gallery as an indoor backup, and the registrars make the call on the day. That is normal, but knowing it in advance means it doesn’t feel like a disaster if it goes that way.
The gravel path matters. The Stirk Tree isn’t wheelchair accessible and there’s no electricity out there. Worth knowing if you’ve guests who’d struggle, or a band who need power.
Twenty-two acres is a lot of options. Woodland, lawns, the patio, the Pendle views. If we get fifteen minutes at the right time of the evening we can come back with something completely different from the rest of the day.
A Short History of Stirk House
Stirk House was built in 1635, using stonework taken from Sawley Abbey after it was dismantled during the dissolution of the monasteries a century before. It was originally called Grange Moor Manor.
It was later bought by a London financier, Alec Ormerod, as a country base for entertaining, and then stood empty for twenty-five years. In 1933 it sold for five hundred pounds to Harry Speak, who turned it into a hotel with eleven bedrooms and three bathrooms.
A fire in 1945 destroyed most of the main wing, and local villagers turned out to help save the rest of the building. A hundred thousand pound refurbishment in 1950 gave it a reputation as somewhere rather grand — waiters in tails and white gloves.
Location of Stirk House
Stirk House is just outside Gisburn in the Ribble Valley, between Clitheroe and Skipton, with Pendle Hill in view. It’s an easy run over from West Yorkshire, and the drive across from Skipton is a good one.
Stirk House, Gisburn, Clitheroe, Lancashire BB7 4LJ
If you’re planning your wedding at Stirk House and looking for a photographer, I’d love to hear from you. Have a look through my wedding photography packages, see the other venues I cover, and if the style feels right, let’s have a chat.
Planning Your Stirk House Wedding
Stirk House is a 17th-century manor house in Gisburn, near Clitheroe, BB7 4LJ, on a 22-acre estate in the Ribble Valley, with gardens, ancient woodland and big countryside views all around.
You can say your vows inside, in the Gallery Suite, or outdoors, as Stirk House has two outdoor areas approved by the Lancashire Registration Service. If you’re hoping for an outdoor ceremony, have a look at both when you visit, and think about where the sun will be at your ceremony time. It makes a real difference to your pictures, and it’s good to know there’s an indoor room ready if the weather turns.
The venue offers everything from elopements and twilight ceremonies to full summer and winter weddings, and the price depends on the day of the week, the time of year and your guest numbers. The weddings team will put together a quote for you, so it’s worth asking about midweek and winter dates if you have some flexibility.
There are 33 bedrooms, so plenty of your guests can stay over and nobody has to rush home. The honeymoon suite has its own lounge and bedroom, a dressing table, a free-standing bath and a double shower, which also makes it a lovely, roomy place to get ready in the morning with good light for pictures.
With 22 acres of gardens and woodland, there are lots of spots for portraits close to the house. I keep portraits to around twenty minutes, so you’re not away from your guests for long, and with the Signature and Complete packages we pop out again for fifteen minutes of twilight pictures.
Stirk House holds a free wedding open day, with no booking needed, which is a good way to see the rooms set up. If you’d like to plan your timings around the light, get in touch.