Howsham Hall is a grade I listed Jacobean

stately home An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in Howsham,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is built in two storeys of limestone ashlar to a U-shaped plan with a 7-bay frontage.

History

In the early 16th century the Howsham estate belonged to nearby

Kirkham Priory The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent, at Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England. The Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l'Espec, lord of nearby Helmsley, who also built Rievaulx Abbey. The ...

and following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

was granted to Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland around 1540. His great-grandson sold it to Thomas Bamburgh. The present Hall was built in about 1610 on the site of a previous manor house, using stone from the priory, by Sir William Bamburgh, whose coat of arms, with those of his wife Mary Forthe, is above the main entrance. The cellar is

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

and the main part of the house is Jacobean. However the structure of the building has since been altered over the years. Sir William was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1607–08. In 1709, the house having passed by marriage to the Wentworth family, Sir John Wentworth added the east front. Having passed again by marriage to the

Cholmeley Cholmeley is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Cholmeley baronets created for people with the surname Cholmeley, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the UK * James Cholmeley Russell (1841–1912), barris ...

family of Whitby Abbey, the house was remodelled in about 1775 for Nathaniel Cholmeley, possibly by

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. There is a

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extension at the back of the house and some of the windows have been altered so they have larger panes in the Georgian style. The parkland was laid out by

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

in the 1770s for the Cholmeley family. In the grounds are three Giant Sequoia trees arranged in a triangle. These were given to a limited number of country estates in the seventeenth century. Sequoias were unknown to European horticulture till the middle of the 19th century, post the California goldrush. The estate passed to the Strickland family who sold the estate and its contents in 1948. In the 1950s, it was bought and converted into a boy's preparatory school.

Curse of Kirkham

When

was demolished following the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and the stones, timbers and other material were taken away by the Bamburghs and used in the construction of Howsham Hall, it was considered sacrilege at the time. It was said that true happiness would never come to the family or its successors and that a curse was placed on Howsham Hall and the people that owned it whereby "All male heirs of the estate would perish". The Bamburgh family died out because of the lack of male heirs, the Wentworth intermarried with the Bamburghs and they too became extinct. The next owners, the Cholmeleys, also became extinct and the Stricklands have only one female member of the family left. The last family to buy the house were the Knocks, and the curse continues, as Anthony Knock died after losing a battle with cancer in 2004.

Howsham Hall School

Howsham Hall was bought in 1956 by John Knock. It had been due to be demolished by the council, but in 1958 it opened as an independent boys' school. In 1993 the school introduced both girls and day pupils increasing school numbers to around 60. The school was closed on 6 July 2007 at the end of the Summer Term due to dwindling pupil numbers.

The School

The subjects that the school taught were French, Maths, English, Latin, Poetry, History, Debating, Singing, R.E., Ancient History, Hand Writing, Art, Geography, I.T. and Science. Drama was also offered to pupils up until year 7. The school also offered music lessons. The total number of pupils was approximately 60 which meant that each year had around 10 pupils in each year group. This meant that class sizes were small as well. Howsham Hall was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

school and had a morning and evening service every weekday and mass on Sunday. In the Autumn and Spring terms boys played rugby, with the school fielding a 1st XV and an U11s team; while the girls had ballet, aerobics or needlework classes. Pupils also did cross country on Mondays and Thursdays culminating a 7 mile run at the end of the spring term called the "championship" an inter house competition. In the summer term boys did cricket with the school fielding 2 teams senior and junior and the girls did rounders. Horse riding was also offered on Tuesday afternoons and Swimming was done up until year 7 (Form 2) on Friday morning at

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. The school also offered occasional canoeing, shooting and sailing.

Allegations of abuse

In 1998 allegations of

abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

were brought against the school by a former pupil. The allegations included the

beating Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

of pupils with straps, pupils being made to stand in cold baths for hours, public humiliation of bed-wetters and censorship of letters home, however none of these allegations were proven and were subsequently dropped despite numerous testimonials from other former pupils.

References

External links

* {{coord, 54.05916, -0.88006, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in North Yorkshire Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire