Hartforth Hall is a historic building in Hartforth, a village in North Yorkshire, in England.
The manor of Hartforth was recorded in the Domesday Book and descended through various families. The current country house was built in 1744, and a northwest range was added in 1792, probably to a design by John Foss. In about 1900, the right-hand bays were rebuilt and a new range added at that end. The building was grade II* listed in 1969.[1][2] The house passed to Sheldon Cradock, MP for Camelford, whose grandson, Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock, was born at Hartforth in 1862 and who died at the Battle of Coronel.[3] The property was operated as a hotel and wedding venue from 1986 to 2017, but the hotel is now permanently closed.[4]
The house is built of sandstone with a Westmorland slate roof and it has two storeys. The south front has eight bays, a plinth, quoins, a floor band, a modillion cornice, a balustered parapet with square pedestals, and urn finials at the ends. Three of the bays project slightly, and contain a doorway with an architrave, a fanlight, and a tripartite keystone in a rusticated quoined surround, with a pediment. The windows are sashes in architraves. The left return has ten bays, and contains a two-storey bow window. The right return has seven bays, and contains a tetrastyle prostyle Doric portico. Inside, the south central ground floor room retains decoration from 1744, while the sitting room, bedroom above, and east staircase, all have decoration of 1792.[1][2]
The gateway to the hall consists of a stone arch crossing the drive. It is made from fragments of a medieval chapel, and has a four-centred arch with two orders. Above the arch is a small window, and low walls extend to the south. It is a grade II listed building.[1][5]
Next to the house is a grade II listed water tower, dating from the late 19th century. The tower is built of stone, with a square plan and three stages. It contains quoins, bands, a cornice, and a parapet with ball finials on the corners. In the ground floor are two open round-arched openings with architraves and piers. The top stage contains a clock face on each side, all in oculi with keystones.[1][6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d Grenville, Jane; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2023) [1966]. Yorkshire: The North Riding. The Buildings of England. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-25903-2.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Hartforth Hall, Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury (1131933)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Halpern, Paul G, Cradock, Sir Christopher George Francis Maurice (1862–1914), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (2004); online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011. (Subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ North Yorkshire Hotels. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ Historic England. "Gateway to Hartforth Hall, Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury (1131932)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Water tower approximately 5 metres to north of Hartforth Hall, Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury (1131935)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 October 2024.