Royds Hall

Royds Hall is a significant manor house located on Royds Hall Lane, Low Moor, Bradford, dating back to 1640 and with later additions in the 17th and 18th centuries. The house was begun by William Rookes in 1640, with the central portion comprising two halls, dated 1640 and 1651. A west cross wing was added between 1656 and 1658, and a three-storey right-hand wing was built by Edward Rookes-Leeds in 1770.

The south garden front presents an irregular, multi-gabled facade, featuring saddlestones with kneelers and shaped finials. The windows are large, chamfered, mullioned, and transomed; the hall has groups of four lights, while the first floor of the 1651 range also features groups of four lights, with other ranges having eight and ten lights. A two-storey gabled porch is centrally positioned on the south front, featuring a four-light archway. A cartouche dated 1640 sits above a weathered stringcourse, with decorated corbels flanking a massive ashlar lintel and spiral carvings to the spandrels of the arch. A stepped four-light window sits above the doorway, topped with a drip mould. To the right of the porch, a recessed gabled bay features an unusual first-floor window composed of five stepped lights. The 1770 wing has a canted front with a central section rising through three stories, culminating in a lunette window within the gable. Tall, corniced chimneys are present, along with an external chimney with offsets to the west gable end. The north courtyard front displays chamfered mullion windows with drip moulds, with five, six, and eight lights, and matching gables. A four-centred arch doorway is found within a porch, and there is also a small bellcot.

The interior experienced considerable alterations in the early 20th century. Four Tuscan columns screen a hall, and one staircase and balusters from around 1770 remain in situ. A massive fireplace backs onto the porch, featuring an overmantel with bold leaf carvings. One ground floor room in the 18th-century wing retains delicate plasterwork friezes and a ceiling dating back to around 1770. The house is two rooms deep in its plan. Following the estate's purchase by the Low Moor Iron Company in 1788, Royds Hall became the residence of the Rev Joseph Dawson, a scientist and the company’s chief technologist, who died there in 1813.