Warmsworth Hall

A large house dating to 1702, built for John Battie 2nd. It is constructed of magnesian limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, and has a stone slate roof. The house is arranged in an H-shape, with two storeys and an attic, and originally had 2:3:2 bays. A chamfered plinth and rusticated quoins are visible. The central feature of the front elevation is a raised and chancel-rusticated ashlar panel containing a renewed sash window with glazing bars within an eared doorway architrave, topped by a carved pediment on consoles. The other ground-floor bays feature sashes with glazing bars set in plain ashlar surrounds, beneath a continuous cornice. Bay 2 has a part-glazed door and overlight, and, along with bay 1, is covered by a later Doric-columned stone porch. The first floor has a sash window with glazing bars within an architrave and moulded sill, topped by an open segmental pediment, and sashes with glazing bars to bays 3 and 5. Wings each have 24-pane sashes. The hipped roof has a cornice, with a central feature rising above the eaves, flanked by channel-rusticated strips surrounding a keyed oeil-de-boeuf window beneath a cornice and balustrade. Gabled roof dormers are positioned above bays 3 and 5, and each wing. Rendered and corniced ridge stacks are present on the left wing and each side of the central recess. The left return side has five bays, with a central six-panelled door and fanlight with glazing bars within an eared architrave, set in a stone-columned porch. Other ground-floor bays have sashes with glazing bars, and the first floor has 24-pane sashes. Two crested rainwater heads are also present. Inside, the stair-hall in the left wing features a gently inclined wooden staircase with scroll-bracketed treads, turned balusters, and a moulded handrail, along with a fielded-panel dado. An archivolted doorcase is located at the foot of the staircase, and there’s a recessed oval ceiling panel over the stairwell. The fireplace in the entrance hall has an iron firebasket in a ribbed iron panel with a fluted wooden surround; a similar fireplace is found in the original central entrance hall. In 1668, John Battie (1616-1676) purchased the manor and added to the existing hall, as evidenced by an increase in hearth tax returns. His son, John Battie 2nd (1663-1724), built the present house, which Ralph Thoresby noted in 1703 was "very pretty for the size, but scarcely finished." Battie later became deputy Lord Lieutenant for the West Riding in 1715. The house was reduced in size in 1945 and subsequently served as offices for British Ropes. At the time of resurvey in 1987, it was undergoing conversion to a conference centre adjacent to the Doncaster Moat House Hotel.