Kershaw House

Kershaw House is a Grade I listed house, now pub, on the west side of Luddenden Lane at Sowerby Bridge. It dates from the early-to-mid 17th century but was largely rebuilt in the mid-17th century (dated 1650) for the Murgatroyd family.

The building is constructed of thin coursed stone with a stone slate roof. It comprises three parallel ranges running west to east. The right-hand (north) range is the earliest, originally a cross-wing to a hall that was replaced by the other two ranges. The left-hand (southern) range is less deep, and in the angle formed at the rear stands a two-storey porch. The house is two storeys with three by three gabled bays.

Architectural details throughout include a chamfered plinth with a break between the two southern and northern ranges, quoins, and transomed double-chamfered mullion windows with king mullions.

The main east front features a gabled two-storey porch set between the left-hand bays. The left bay contains a nine-light window under a six-light window, with a gutter spout at its left angle. The porch itself has a wave-moulded plinth, a round-arched doorway with a heavily-moulded surround, imposts, inner stone benches and a stop-chamfered Tudor-arched inner doorway. A cyma-moulded string rises above the doorway to enclose a date plaque inscribed '1650/TM AM' (Thomas and Anna Murgatroyd). There is a wheel window with trefoil-headed lights, sunk spandrels, leaded lights and a decorative-stopped hoodmould, with gutter spouts projecting at right-angles from each return. The porch has moulded coping and finials. The central bay has a twelve-light window under a nine-light window. The right bay projects and has six-light windows on each floor, a blocked 19th-century doorway on its right, a gutter spout on the left and at the right corner, and on its left return a cross-window on each floor. All three bays have string continued from the porch, first-floor dripmoulds (that to the right bay with decorative stops), and moulded coping and finials to the gables. A corniced double stack stands between the left-hand bays.

The rear elevation shows the left bay with a 20th-century single-storey addition and a six-light first-floor window. The central bay has a nine-light window under a six-light window. The right bay, set back, has a three-light window to the left and a six-light window on the first floor to the right of a 19th-century doorway. A continuous moulded string, first-floor dripmoulds, gable coping and finials, and a corniced stack between the left-hand bays run across this elevation.

The left return has a gabled porch to the set-back left bay with a shallow Tudor-arched doorway with chamfered surround, scallop-patterned lintel, inner stone benches and similar inner doorway with studded board door. Above the doorway is a cross-window with dripmould. To the left of the porch are three-light windows on each floor, the first-floor window without transom. The central bay has six-light windows to each floor and a gutter spout to the left corner. The right bay has a nine-light window under a six-light window. Coping and finials cap all gables.

The right return has its left bay with a blocked cross-window to the left of a blocked 19th-century doorway and window, with a six-light window above. The central bay has a central shallow-segmental-arched doorway with moulded surround and scalloped lintel, a three-light window to the left and a cross-window to the right. On the first floor is a six-light window with an oculus to its right, both having moulded cill and dripmould. The right bay has a projecting 20th-century single-storey extension; to its left are four lights of a formerly wider window and a six-light window above. All three bays have first-floor dripmoulds and gable coping and finials. A ridge stack stands between the left-hand bays.

Internally, the central hall contains a large cyma-moulded basket-arched fireplace with arch and cornice above, cyma-stopped chamfered spine-beams, and a large-scantling cross-beam above the fireplace. The first floor has exposed roof timbers. Between the central and right wings is a two-bay truss running east-west with king post and studs. The central wing's front area has a massive tie-beam with seatings for joists, and two principal rafter trusses with short king posts on arch-braced collars with longitudinal braces to the ridge piece. In the rear room is a similar truss with principals supported on brackets at wall-plate level, tenoned into braces from wall posts to principals, and another collared truss against the rear wall. The left wing retains one wall post supporting a central tie-beam with soffit grooved to take a former partition and mortice for a former post. The timbering in the left wing possibly indicates the former existence of a timber-framed building.

In the latter half of the 17th century the Kershaw House Estate was owned by James Murgatroyd, who in 1634 built East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley, which is stylistically very similar to Kershaw House. In his will of 1653 he bequeathed Kershaw House to his youngest son, Thomas, who re-edified the building and whose initials appear over the main doorway.