Dinnington Hall

Dinnington Hall is a large house, now a hotel, dating from the early to mid-18th century, with alterations made in 1752 for Henry Athorpe, attributed to James Paine. Later additions and interior work were undertaken by John Carr. The house is constructed of ashlar sandstone, with C20 cement tile and Westmorland slate roofs. It is two storeys with attics and has a symmetrical front of five bays. A central porch features a C20 part-glazed door, flanked by pilasters, a triple keystone, and an entablature that projects forward. Above the door is a two-pane sash window with an architrave and keystone topped with a carved bird. Flanking the porch are two-storey canted bay windows with two-pane sashes separated by pilasters, moulded sills, and string courses and a first-floor band. Rainwater heads bear the date 1752. A cornice runs beneath a parapet, topped with ball finials over each bay. The end bays, treated as pavilions, have rusticated ground floors with round-headed sash windows with glazing bars, flanked by square-headed niches. The first-floor band connects beneath the sill band to a two-pane sash in a corniced architrave, with semi-domed niches set within a round-arched recess, all beneath an open pediment. The pavilions have hipped roofs that adjoin the taller roof of the central range, which is pierced by two wooden dormers. Ashlar gable copings and corniced end stacks are also present. The rear elevation includes three large two-pane sashes beneath flat arches, and six-pane sashes beneath an eaves cornice, with three round-headed dormers. A left return features a large, plain, two-storey canted-bay projection flanked by lower wings. The bay window has a round-headed window with an impost band and square-headed first-floor windows with a sill band and cornice; it is capped by a hipped roof. A right return mirrors the left, with a matching Venetian window and a sash window with glazing bars, flanked by semi-domed niches.

The interior includes excellent decoration in the dining room by John Carr, featuring enriched six-panel mahogany doors in corniced architraves with anthemion friezes, round-headed wall panels surrounding doors, two semi-domed niches, a fireplace and window openings, an anthemion dado and impost band. The fireplace has an iron basket in a marble surround with an architraved panel above; plaster vases are set into flat archivolts, between armament panels, and the ceiling is plain. The stair hall has a Doric-columned front screen, a wooden-balustraded staircase, and a glazed oval lantern, with a C20 trompe-d'oeil decorative scheme. The drawing room displays similar fine decoration, including a marble fireplace, an oval ceiling panel with vases, ribbons and garlands. Dinnington Hall was formerly the home of the Athorpe family.