Low Startforth Hall Low Startforth Hall East

Low Startforth Hall, now two dwellings, dates to 1633 and likely incorporates earlier fabric. It was refenestrated around 1750 and a mid-19th-century east extension now forms Low Startforth Hall East. The original part is constructed of rubble with roughly-shaped quoins and cut dressings, while the 19th-century addition is of roughly-squared stone with a tooled stone east front and tooled-and-margined quoins. Both have graduated stone slate roofs.

The south elevation is divided into two sections. The left part is three stories and two bays, featuring 3-light Gothick casement windows in raised, tooled surrounds with lintels. A shaped slate panel inscribed with a quotation from Horace, celebrating a garden with a spring and woodland, is set into the wall below the windows. The left gable has coped kneelers, stepped cornicing, and end stacks. The right part is of the same height but two stories and one wide bay, with a similar first-floor window above a canted bay containing plate-glass sashes. The roof here is hipped to the right. The east return shows three 12-pane sashes above the 20th-century extension. The west return reveals a large projecting stepped stack with two small chamfered windows on the right, the upper one now blocked, and a line of a steeply-pitched roof.

On the rear elevation, the old right part has a restored chamfered doorway with a re-set slab, dated 1633 with initials AA and IC above. Scattered small windows, featuring decorative glazing, are set within chamfered surrounds, with a first-floor central window bearing the date 1633. The left part has a part-glazed 6-panel door within a Tuscan doorcase and similar window openings.

The ground-floor east room of Low Startforth Hall has a large fireplace with a flat-pointed arch in a moulded square frame, and heavy stop-chamfered ceiling timbers. The west room contains an 18th-century fireplace and chamfered beams. Internal features include fielded-panel doors within panelled reveals, panelled segmental arches to the lobby, and a carved front door thought to be from Streatlam Castle. A cut-string open-well staircase has column-on-vase balusters, square newels, and a steeply-ramped moulded handrail extending to the second floor. A thick spine wall suggests possible pre-17th-century origins. Low Startforth Hall East is distinguished by elaborate plaster cornices and a ceiling rose, alongside a carved chimneypiece and panelling also brought from Streatlam Castle.

The lower two-story part of Low Startforth Hall, forming a former stable range to the west, is not considered of particular interest. Similarly, adjacent areas – Low Startforth Close and West Mews – which were previously included in the listing, have been substantially altered and are no longer of significance.