Elslack Hall is a historic building in

Elslack Elslack is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with Lancashire and west of Skipton. Thornton in Craven is nearby. The Tempest Arms is a large pub in the village, sited by the A56, which is ...

, a village in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, in England. Today it has been subdivided into a farm house and cottage. The building may be the successor of a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

which Godfrey de Altaripa was granted a licence to

crenellate A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

in 1318. Remains of a moat are visible around the site, and there are a couple of lancet windows which may have been part of the mediaeval building. The oldest parts of the current house probably date from the 16th century. It was altered in the 18th century, and then suffered a fire in the late 19th century. As a result of the damage, the left rear wing was demolished, and the building was refronted. The house was

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1954. It forms part of the Elslack Estate, which was put up for sale in 2016, with an asking price of £10 million. The house is built of stone, with

quoins Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th-century encyclopedia, ...

and a stone slate roof, one

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

with a

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. There are two storeys, two

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, and a cross-wing on the right. On the front is a two-storey porch and a round-headed doorway with impost blocks and

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s. The windows have double-

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s, and on the gabled end are two six-light windows, each light arched, with

hood mould In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin , lip), drip mould or dripstone is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a '' pediment''. This moulding can be ...

s. Attached to the cross-wing is a garden wall containing two rectangular

bee bole A bee bole is a cavity or alcove in a wall (the Scots language, Scots word ''bole'' means a recess in a wall) for beekeeping. A Beehive (beekeeping)#Skeps, skep is placed in the bee bole. Before the development of modern bee hives (such as the d ...

s with shelves. In front of the house is a

great barn Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, which was constructed in 1672. It is built of stone with

and a stone slate roof. It is rectangular, long and narrow. The openings include a doorway with a

ed surround, a doorway with a

Tudor arch A four-centred arch (Commonwealth spelling) or four-centered arch (American spelling) is a low, wide type of arch with a pointed apex. Its structure is achieved by drafting two arcs which rise steeply from each springing point on a small radius, a ...

, two cart entries with chamfered surrounds and elliptical heads, and vents. Over one cart entry is a dated and initialled stone. It was

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 1954.

References

{{coord, 53.93909, -2.11046, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Manor houses in England Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire Houses in North Yorkshire

See also

References