Hotham Hall

Hotham Hall is a country house of circa 1720, built for William Burton, with significant later additions. The complex comprises a central 18th-century house, an 18th-century pavilion of 1772 possibly by Thomas Atkinson of York, and two ranges added in 1871 by William Moseley.

The principal 18th-century range is constructed in ashlar cut to brick size with a Westmorland slate roof. It is two storeys with attics and five bays. The front elevation features a plinth and rusticated quoins. A half-glazed door beneath a divided overlight sits in a moulded doorcase with triple keystone and pediment held on consoles. Unequal 15-pane sashes are set in band surrounds with triple keystones and continuous sills throughout. A modillion cornice runs beneath the hipped roof, which carries two four-pane sash gabled dormers and tall eaves stacks.

The 18th-century pavilion is connected to the house by a single linking bay of two storeys. The pavilion itself is two storeys with an attic and three bays, presenting a gable end to the front. It features sashes with glazing bars in band surrounds, a blind doorway in a band surround with triple keystone to the linking bay, and on its first floor sashes with glazing bars in band surrounds and a pediment with oculus. Beneath a balustraded parapet concealing the roof of the linking bay stands a tall four-pane sash in a band surround with triple keystone.

The 1871 ranges are built in brick with Welsh slate roofs. The left range is two storeys with five bays, featuring sashes with glazing bars beneath flat stone arches, continuous sills to first-floor windows, paired consoles supporting overhanging eaves, and a hipped roof with ridge and eaves stacks. The right range is two storeys with six first-floor windows, including two 20th-century garage doors and blocked windows, with dentilled eaves and a hipped roof.

The garden facade presents similar characteristics, with the addition of an off-centre semicircular bay to the 18th-century house. The pavilion on this side displays a four-pane sash in a band surround with triple keystone beneath a pediment held on consoles, flanked by four-pane sashes in band surrounds with triple keystones, a blind first floor, and an oculus to the gable. The linking bay has a half-glazed door beneath a fanlight and balustraded pediment.

The interior contains exceptional features. The hall is lined with six fielded-panelled doors in moulded doorcases with panelled reveals and elaborate cornices. An open-string staircase with wrought-iron balusters, probably of early 19th-century date, ascends from here.

The ballroom contains early 18th-century carved panelling in the style of William Thornton, possibly brought from North Cave Manor. The work displays egg-and-dart, bead and rope motifs. The central panel is eared and shouldered, carrying relief cornucopia, wheat sheaves and festoons. A white marble fireplace with orange marble Ionic columns supports an orange frieze with white central panel depicting putti with a beast. The overmantel has an eared and shouldered panel with festoons surmounted by an urn. The ceiling cornice features acanthus brackets interspersed with rosettes, while the moulded plaster ceiling displays a central radial motif surrounded by scroll and foliage motifs.

The linking bay contains shell alcoves with moulded plaster ceilings. The study retains lower sections of mid 18th-century panelling and a plain marble fireplace in a richly carved wooden surround with a central panel to the frieze bearing a relief head and an eared and shouldered panel above supporting a pediment. A closed-string staircase with bulbous balusters topped with umbrella knops serves the back stairs. Panelling of circa 1720 survives in the master bedroom and its dressing room.

An earlier range exists at the site, built in hammer-dressed limestone with ashlar dressings and Westmorland slate roof, dating to the 17th century.