Fryston Hall was a country house at Water Fryston,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

which stood in an estate between the town of

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

and the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...

near where the river is crossed by the A1(M). The main building was demolished in 1934 and only some outbuildings survive as farm buildings. The hall itself stood in 200 acres of parkland. Buried in one of the lawns is a stone coffin containing what were thought to be the remains of

Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster ( 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman of the first House of Lancaster of the royal Plantagenet Dynasty. He was Earl of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby from 1296 to 1322, and Earl of Lincoln and Sa ...

who was beheaded in 1322 on the orders of King Edward II. The coffin was excavated in March 1882 from a nearby field and re-interred at Fryston Hall at the request of the then owner. Site of Fryston Hall - geograph

Fryston Hall was once occupied by

George Crowle George Crowle (11May 16961754), of Springhead, near Hull, Yorkshire was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1724 to 1747. Early life Crowle was the eldest son of William Crowle, merchant of Hull, and his wife Doroth ...

(1696–1754), MP for Hull and his brother Richard Crowle (1699–1757), also MP for Hull. The Crowle family developed coal mining on the estate but in 1788 the estate was sold to

Richard Slater Milnes Richard Slater Milnes (December 1759 – 2 June 1804) was an English heir, landowner and politician. The heir to a cloth fortune, he served in the British Parliament, where he championed the abolitionist cause. Early life Richard Slater Milnes ...

(1759–1804), the heir to a cloth fortune and MP for York, who improved the house and planted many trees. The estate passed down in the Milnes family from Richard to his son Robert Pemberton Milnes (1784-1858), MP for Pontefract. From him it descended to

Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and a politician who strongly supported social justice. Background and education Milnes was born in London, the son ...

(1809-1885), the poet, writer and unsuccessful suitor of

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during th ...

, and also an MP for Pontefract. His well-known library at the hall was devastated by fire in 1876. Richard's son,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

(1858-1945), became a Liberal politician and was created Earl of Crewe in 1895 and Marquess of Crewe in 1911. Robert lived for a while at Fryston Hall before selling it by auction in 1905. The partially derelict hall was then demolished in 1934 and some of the stone used to build the Holy Cross Church at Airedale.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fryston Hall Country houses in West Yorkshire Demolished buildings and structures in West Yorkshire Former country houses in England