Holywell Hall And The West Wing

Holywell Hall and the West Wing are a large house, now divided into two separate dwellings, dating from the early to mid-18th century, with an earlier wing likely from the 16th century. The main block is constructed of coursed sandstone rubble with dressings, while the West Wing has rendered walls. The main block has a graduated green slate roof and 19th-century stone chimney stacks, and the West Wing has a Welsh slate roof and brick chimney stacks.

The main block is a three-storey, five-bay structure with roughly-squared quoins and windows arranged in a 2+1+2 pattern. The central entrance features a two-leaf door within a painted, eared stone architrave, incorporating a pulvinated frieze and dentilled pediment. Replacement sash windows flank the entrance, with 12-pane sashes on the first floor and square, centre-pivoting 6-pane casements above, all with flush wedge lintels and projecting sills. The steeply pitched roof has swept eaves and coped gables with shaped kneelers. An external chimney is visible on the right return, along with transverse end stacks. The left return has an old-brick chimney flue and the top half of a bullseye window re-used as a lintel.

A single-storey, three-bay wing projects to the right and features 19th-century openings with reused sections of architrave as lintels; a central partly-glazed door with an 8-pane overlight is flanked by 12-pane sashes. This wing has a steeply pitched roof with swept eaves. The two-storey, four-bay rear wing, now known as The West Wing, has replaced windows and a door, a moderately-pitched roof, and ridge stacks.

The interior of the right wing contains two pairs of heavy adzed upper crucks with lifted collars and adzed purlins. A first-floor gallery in the right bay incorporates reused timber. A moulded Tudor-arched fireplace with restored jambs is located on the left gable end, and a wide, probably 16th-century chamfered fireplace is found on the rear of the left gable end wall, facing into the main block. Ground-floor rooms of the main block feature heavy, boxed-in ceiling beams. A 18th-century stone fireplace with an eared surround and egg-and-dart border is in a room on the left.

According to local tradition, Holywell is named for St. Cuthbert's body reportedly resting there around 882 during the Lindisfarne Community’s flight from Danish raids. From 1402, the Nevilles of Brancepeth Castle used the site as lodging for their Constables. The West Wing is included in the listing for group value.