November 2017

Houghton Hall (see above, south front) stands just west of the village of Sancton and south of Market Weighton. Described by David Neave as ‘The perfect Georgian country house in a beautiful parkland setting’ (Buildings of England, Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (2005, 665-666), all the houses so far mentioned in he current run […]

From the early 18th century onwards the southern Yorkshire Wolds were a preferred locality for rich Hull merchants and businessmen to buy land and have built a country residence and grounds reflecting their wealth and status and, often, taking advantage of the views offered by the rolling landscape compared with the level ground of the

Sewerby Hall and Boynton Hall (s.p.b.s) are both Grade 1 ‘listed buildings’, some of the other large period houses considered recently are also Grade 1 although some are Grade 2*. The ‘listing’ of historic buildings is part of the responsibilities of the government agency Historic England. There are only three levels of listing; grade 1 (most

Sewerby Hall, an eight bay, three-storey Georgian brick-built house with panoramic views of the North Sea and standing above the rising chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head, is the jewel in the crown of the East Riding’s large period houses. The bulk of the house seen today was built in the early 18th century, the bow-fronted wings

Boynton Hall, just a few miles west of Bridlington, has a Grade 1 listing, the relevant text describing its exterior as ‘red brick with burnt brick diaper work and stone dressings, ashlar and slate roof’. The original core of the house seen above was a late-Tudor H plan house on the same site as a demolished

Thorpe Hall in the village of Rudston, west of Bridlington, (see above) is the product of various building schemes across 200 years from the late 17th century. It is (I think) sometimes open to the public but beyond the house are extensive facilities for camping/caravanning, horse riding etc. In his detailed description of Thorpe Hall