Cusworth Hall

Cusworth Hall is a country house built between 1740 and 1745 by architect George Platt for William Wrightson, with alterations carried out between 1749 and 1753 by James Paine. Now operated as a local authority museum, it is constructed of ashlar with slate roofs.

The main block comprises a 6 by 5 bay double-pile plan with front quadrant walls that link to 5 by 2 bay service wings facing the entrance courtyard. The garden front to the rear is 7 bays wide and is flanked by separately-roofed pavilions. The main block rises to 3 storeys with a semi-basement.

The entrance front is divided into bays by channelled quoin strips that rise as giant Doric pilasters, with the central bays breaking forward slightly. Below these run square basement windows beneath a band. Two flights of steps with wrought-iron balustrades sweep up to the entrance, which features double doors, a fanlight and flanking casements set within a Doric Venetian surround with projecting voussoirs to the archivolt. The outer bays contain sashes with glazing bars in architraves with projecting sills and cornices. At first-floor level, a string course sits beneath an Ionic Venetian window with shaped sill blocks and keyed archivolt; flanking windows match the ground floor but lack cornices. The second floor has 4-pane sashes in the central bays and 6-pane sashes in the outer bays, all within architraves. A central pediment with plain tympanum surmounts the central bays, with a full entablature across the outer bays. The hipped roof is topped by two corniced ridge stacks.

To the left of the main block, a low quadrant wall features a central doorway flanked by sashes set in keyed, round-arched panels, forming a link to a 2-storey service wing of 2 by 1 by 2 bays. This wing has a plinth and rusticated quoins. Its central bay contains a quoined doorway with a 5-part keystone and cornice, while the outer bays are fitted with unequally-hung 15-pane sashes in plain architraves. The first floor has centre-pivoted 6-pane casements with similar surrounds. A pediment crowns the central bay, and the hipped stone-slate roof supports a square clock turret with an ogee cupola and weathervane. A similar quadrant wall on the right of the main block features an Ionic porch and links to a matching kitchen wing, which no longer retains its original stacks. The 2-bay returns of each service wing have gate piers linked to the outside corners, with wrought-iron gates on the left wing.

The garden front displays 2 by 3 by 2 bays with a rusticated semi-basement. The central ground-floor window has a balustraded apron, a 16-pane sash, an eared architrave and a consoled cornice; the central first-floor window has an eared architrave. The remaining fenestration matches the outer bays of the entrance front. On each side, a recessed single-storey bay contains a flight of steps, a door and a balustraded cornice, forming a link to a single-storey pavilion with basement. The pavilions each feature a rusticated basement and a central round arch enclosing a balustraded apron to an Ionic tripartite window set beneath a Diocletian window, with flanking semi-domed niches and pediments. The right return of the right-hand pavilion has a canted bay-window with balustrading to aprons and parapet. A similar projection to the left-hand pavilion forms a chapel apse.

The interior contains many excellent features. Of principal interest is the Chapel, housed in the pavilion to the left of the garden front, which displays rich plasterwork by Joseph Rose and a ceiling painting of the Ascension by Francis Hayman. The apse is separated by a serliana with a festooned open pediment. The opposite pavilion contains a marble fireplace with Vitruvian-scroll frieze, Ionic pillars flanking a bay-window, and a coved ceiling with Rococo plasterwork. The main entrance hall features a crinoidal limestone fireplace and ornate doorcases, with a Doric arcaded screen to the transverse corridor. Opposite this stands a segmentally-pedimented doorcase, and Doric serliana arcades lead to corridors on each side. The room to the left of the entrance has a pedimented overmantel with a portrait of William Wrightson. The library opposite is fitted with Adam-style bookcases. Other ground-floor rooms contain good fireplaces and enriched ceilings. The principal staircase has an open string with fluting to alternate balusters and the Wrightson arms in the ceiling above. The first-floor corridor features Ionic pilasters and pedimented doorcases. The kitchen service wing contains 3 fireplaces with keyed, segmental arches, bread ovens, and a copper and fireplace in the laundry.

The house was home to the Wrightson and Battie-Wrightson families. It was purchased by the local authority in 1961 and has served its present museum purpose since 1967.