Calverley Old Hall
Encyclopedia
Calverley
Calverley is a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, on the A657 road, midway between Leeds city centre and Bradford...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Architectural features
Significant portions of the house have unusually escaped alteration and modernisation in later centuries. The oldest section of the property is the solarSolar (room)
The solar was a room in many English and French medieval manor houses, great houses and castles, generally situated on an upper storey, designed as the family's private living and sleeping quarters...
, believed to be of 14th-century origin. The great hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
, which has an interesting 6-bay hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
, and the chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
have been dated to 1485–1495. Later additions include an accommodation wing added in the early 16th century by Sir William Calverley to house his very large family.
Calverley family
The Calverley family settled in Calverley in ancient times and remained for several hundred years. In the mid-17th century Walter Calverley (b. 1629) married Francis Thompson, heiress of the Thompson estate at EsholtEsholt
Esholt is a village between Shipley and Guiseley, in the metropolitan district of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.- Derivation of name :The name "Esholt" indicates that the village was first established in a heavily wooded area of ash trees....
. In 1709 their son Walter
Sir Walter Calverley, 1st Baronet
Sir Walter Calverley, 1st Baronet was the son of Walter Calverley of Calverley, Yorkshire and Frances Thompson, heiress of Esholt, Yorkshire....
built a new mansion house at Esholt Hall, and the family left Calverley. After his death in 1749 the family sold the Esholt estate, and in 1754 they sold the Calverley properties to the Thornhills. Thereafter the hall was subdivided into cottages.
The hall was witness to dreadful violence in April 1605, when Walter Calverley
Walter Calverley
Walter Calverley was an English squire and murderer. His story became the basis of more than one literary work of the early 17th century.-Early life:...
murdered two of his sons, William and Walter, in a fit of madness. He was tried in York for murder, but refused to plead and was therefore pressed to death. Because of his refusal, his property could not be seized by the state, and passed to his surviving baby son. The murder inspired the Jacobean play A Yorkshire Tragedy
A Yorkshire Tragedy
A Yorkshire Tragedy is an early Jacobean era stage play, a domestic tragedy printed in 1608. The play was originally assigned to William Shakespeare, though the modern critical consensus rejects this attribution, favouring Thomas Middleton....
, the authorship of which was attributed to William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
in the first printed edition (1608) but which is now thought to have been written by Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton
Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
.
Modern times
In more recent times the hall has enjoyed humbler tenants. The chapel was let out as a wheelwright's shop. In 1981, however, Landmark TrustLandmark Trust
The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then gives them a new life by making them available for holiday rental...
bought and restored the hall, which they let out as holiday accommodation.