A selection of some of the county's glorious stately homes nestled in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside.
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Shibden Hall, Halifax. Home to the extraordinary Anne Lister, also known as Gentleman Jack, diarist, businesswoman, landowner, traveller and lesbian. The hall dates back to 1420 and offers visitors a journey through the lives of the people who lived and worked here. Shibden’s architecture is a mix of styles reflecting its interesting and varied history. The nearby 17th century aisled barn and workshops house a carriage collection and displays relating to different crafts, including a blacksmiths, coopers, wheelwrights and saddlers.
. Markenfield Hall Ripon
A family home that has remained largely untouched, one of a handful of moated medieval manor houses that could still be recognised by their original owners. The hall’s fortunes were entwined with those of nearby Fountains Abbey prior to the Reformation and acted as one of the most important centres of the Rising of the North in 1569. The act of treason by Sir Thomas Markenfield saw the estate confiscated. It slumbered on in relative obscurity until 1761 when it was purchased by Sir Fletcher Norton – later to become Lord Grantley, First Baron of Markenfield – a title still held by the family to this day.
. Bramham Park Wetherby
Bramham Park was built in 1698 and its famous landscape laid out over the following 30 years by Robert Benson, First Lord Bingley. After 300 years, which include the South Sea Bubble, the untimely death of the heir, dissipation by illegitimate children, crippling gambling debts, devastating fire, ravages of two World Wars and death duties, the same family still lives at Bramham and cares for its heritage.
1. Markenfield Hall Ripon
A family home that has remained largely untouched, one of a handful of moated medieval manor houses that could still be recognised by their original owners. The hall’s fortunes were entwined with those of nearby Fountains Abbey prior to the Reformation and acted as one of the most important centres of the Rising of the North in 1569. The act of treason by Sir Thomas Markenfield saw the estate confiscated. It slumbered on in relative obscurity until 1761 when it was purchased by Sir Fletcher Norton – later to become Lord Grantley, First Baron of Markenfield – a title still held by the family to this day.
2. Bramham Park Wetherby
Bramham Park was built in 1698 and its famous landscape laid out over the following 30 years by Robert Benson, First Lord Bingley. After 300 years, which include the South Sea Bubble, the untimely death of the heir, dissipation by illegitimate children, crippling gambling debts, devastating fire, ravages of two World Wars and death duties, the same family still lives at Bramham and cares for its heritage.
3. Burton Agnes Hall near Bridlington
Built between 1598 and 1610 by Sir Henry Griffith, Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan stately home that has stayed within the family for more than 400 years. Simon Cunliffe-Lister now lives there with his family, hosting a jazz festival each year. Some 15 generations have filled the hall with treasures from magnificent carvings commissioned when it was built to French Impressionist paintings, contemporary furniture, tapestries and other modern artwork in recent years. The ghost of Katherine (Anne) Griffith, who died at Burton Agnes Hall in 1620, is reputed to haunt the Queen’s State Bedroom. Anne was the youngest of three sisters. While out on a carriage ride, she was attacked and robbed by ruffians. Brought home, Anne was so badly hurt she died a few days later.
4. Castle Howard near Malton
Castle Howard is arguably one of the most recognised stately homes in Yorkshire, having featured in several versions of film and TV adaptations of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Built during the 1700, it contains both Baroque and Palladium architecture, beautiful rooms including Grand Hall with its painted domed ceiling. The house is set in magnificent grounds in the Howardian Hills with many of the restored rooms, open to the public, styled to look as they would have done in Castle Howard’s heyday.