Howsham Hall
| Howsham Hall | |
| Yorkshire East Riding | |
|---|---|
 Howsham Hall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SE73636613 |
| Location: | 54°3’33"N, -0°52’48"W |
| Village: | Howsham |
| History | |
| Built 1610 | |
| For: | Sir William Bamburgh |
| Country house | |
| Jacobean | |
| Information | |
Howsham Hall is a 28,336 square-foot Jacobean stately home in Howsham, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It stands on the east bank of the River Derwent, which marks the boundary of the East Riding with the the North Riding. The house is a Grade I listed building.[1]
Te house is built in two storeys of limestone ashlar to a U-shaped plan with a 7-bay frontage.
History
In the early 16th century the Howsham estate belonged to nearby Kirkham Priory. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, the estate was granted to Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland around 1540. His great-grandson sold it to Thomas Bamburgh. The present Hall was built in about 1610 on the site of a previous manor house, using stone from the priory, by Sir William Bamburgh, whose coat of arms, with those of his wife Mary Forthe, is above the main entrance. The cellar is Norman and the main part of the house is Jacobean. However the structure of the building has since been altered over the years. Sir William was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1607–08.
In 1709, the house having passed by marriage to the Wentworth family, Sir John Wentworth added the east front.[1]
Having passed again by marriage to the Cholmeley family of Whitby Abbey, the house was remodelled in about 1775 for Nathaniel Cholmeley, possibly by John Carr. There is a Georgian brick extension at the back of the house and some of the windows have been altered so they have larger panes in the Georgian style. The parkland was laid out by Capability Brown in the 1770s for the Cholmeley family. In the grounds are three Giant Sequoia trees arranged in a triangle. These were given to a limited number of country estates in the seventeenth century. Sequoias were unknown to European horticulture till the middle of the 19th century, post the California goldrush.
The estate passed to the Strickland family who sold the estate and its contents in 1948. In the 1950s, it was bought and converted into a boys' preparatory school.
Howsham Hall School
Howsham Hall was bought in 1956 by John Knock. It had been due to be demolished by the council, but in 1958 it opened as an independent boys' school. In 1993 the school introduced both girls and day pupils increasing school numbers to around 60. The school was closed on 6 July 2007 at the end of the Summer Term due to dwindling pupil numbers.[2]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Howsham Hall) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Heritage List 1315992: Howsham Hall (Grade I listing)
- ↑ "Howsham Hall prepares for closure after 50 years". York Press. Newsquest Media Group. 13 January 2007. http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/1121696.howsham_hall_prepares_for_closure_after_50_years/. Retrieved 11 February 2009.