Farnley Hall, Leeds

From Wikishire
Jump to: navigation, search
Farnley Hall
Yorkshire
West Riding
Farnley Hall (geograph 5162174).jpg
Farnley Hall
Location
Grid reference: SE24933242
Location: 53°47’15"N, 1°37’23"W
History
Country house
Information
Owned by: Leeds City Council

Farnley Hall is a stately home in Farnley, to the west of Leeds in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]

The house was built in Elizabethan times by the Danbys.

The Danbys owned part of the manor and the hall until 1799, when it was sold to James Armitage. Thomas Danby was first Mayor of Leeds, and from whom Thomas Danby College in Leeds was named. The Hall was acquired by the Leeds City Council in 1945 and its grounds were turned into a park. The hall is used as the headquarters of the council's Parks and Countryside Service and is home to Farnley Hall Park.[2]

Farnley Hall Gates, stone column gatepost with old gate fixture, right side
Farnley Hall Gates

Part of the 16th-century house still exists.[1] In the early 19th century a classical front was added.[3] There are gateposts probably dating to the 19th century to the south of the hall at the end of the woodland.

Farnley Parish Church, built in 1885 and dedicated to St Michael, stands across the park from the hall. It replaced an 18th-century building, attributed to John Carr.[4] The classical belfry from this chapel is extant in the churchyard. A chapel is known on this site from 1240. The chapel at Farnley had a historic dedication to St Helen, and a well dedicated to the saint was extant in the village of Farnley until the 1950s when the site was developed for housing by Leeds city council. Remains of mediæval tracery used to be preserved in the interior of the church. In October 2011, the church was bought by Saint Makarios The Great Ecclesiastical Trust, who converted it for Romanian Orthodox use.[5]

A cottage close by is several hundred years old and is linked to the park.

Outside links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 National Heritage List 1256104: Farnley Hall (Grade I listing)
  2. Leeds City Council website Online reference
  3. “Edward Armitage RA: Battles in the Victorian Art World”, p. 2. Online reference
  4. "Yorkshire: The West Riding", p. 340. Online reference
  5. "The Parish Church « Romanian Orthodox Parish of Saint Makarios the Great". https://sfmacarie.org/eng/the-parish-church/. Retrieved 15 March 2021.