Horsley Tower And Adjacent Outbuilding

Horsley Tower and the adjacent outbuilding is a Grade II* listed tower house, likely built in the early 16th century, with a north wing added in the mid-17th century and some restoration around 1930. The structure is made of coursed squared stone with dressings and features a slate roof, except for pantiles on the outbuilding. The building is L-shaped, with the south front rising four storeys and displaying irregular fenestration. The original square-headed chamfered doorway has been blocked, and a 20th-century window has been inserted. To the left, there is a 20th-century door. Above the blocked doorway, a three-light window and a pair of two-light windows on the second floor are from the 20th century, except for the hoodmould of the former. Most other windows are older, some featuring hoodmoulds, and there are narrow loop windows to the right for a newel stair. The tower is topped with a crenellated parapet above a cut-back string course, and a stair turret that rises slightly higher, leading to a hipped roof. The one-storey outbuilding to the left has a lean-to roof with crow-stepped coping.

The west elevation of the wing has three storeys and two narrow bays. The projecting right bay features an external stair leading to a first-floor door, while the left bay has a boarded door within a moulded flat-pointed surround. Above, there are paired eight-pane sash windows in an architrave. The right return displays varied fenestration, including an old barred four-pane casement, with windows in architraves to the right. The rear elevation shows the gable end of the wing with an irregular projecting stack and a second-floor two-light window in a raised moulded surround to the right.

Inside, the ground floor has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with separate vaulted chambers to the east and a former entrance lobby on the south leading to a stone newel stair at the southeast angle. The first floor features an original fireplace with a lintel supported by moulded corbels and a segmental relieving arch above, along with chamfered segmental rear arches to some windows. The second floor is adorned with early 18th-century panelling.

The tower was built by the Horsley family and passed to the Widdringtons around 1685, then to the Riddells around 1763. These Roman Catholic families converted the top floor into a chapel, which remained in use until the current Catholic Church was built in 1841.