Longley New Hall

Longley New Hall

House, now school, completed in 1870 for the Ramsden family by the architect William Henry Crossland. The building is constructed of dressed coursed sandstone from local quarries with ashlar quoins and dressings, under blue slate roofs in diminishing courses.

The house is oriented northeast-southwest with the main entrance on the northeast facade. It is characterised by a multiplicity of roof lines and gables. All windows are sash windows with stone mullions and hood and drip mouldings above. Several of the downpipes feature decorative carved stone brackets.

The northeast facade is two storeys plus an attic floor, arranged in five bays with a single storey extension to the left. A projecting entrance portico has a semi-circular arch with ashlar reveals and the Ramsden coat of arms in the corners. To the right of the arch is a two-light window, with two similar windows above this and the entrance. A small circular window with decorative surround sits in the gable above. To the left, the ground floor has a four-light window with a three-light stepped sash above and a carved coat of arms in the apex of the gable. This gable has a projecting kneeler to the left topped with a bell finial. To the left of this bay is a single storey contemporary extension with a single light and a four-light window and castellated parapet around its hipped roof. To the right of the entrance a large castellated staircase window curves outwards to meet two projecting right-hand bays which are gabled and have matching three-light windows to ground and first floors and two-light windows in the attic floor. These two bays are significantly higher than the rest and have small slit openings near the top of the gable. The outer corners have projecting kneelers topped with ball finials.

The southwest facade has a left-hand bay that is an exact copy of the outer end of the front. The next bay is a large two-storey projection with a conical roof containing three three-light windows on each floor, those on the ground floor having a transom near the top. The central bay is recessed and has a square-headed door with rectangular fanlight and a single-light window, with two single-light windows above, under a hipped roof. The two bays to the right project, the first slightly more than the second, but are otherwise identical, each with a four-light window to the ground floor and a three-light stepped window above. The steeply sloping gables have a small cross-shaped window near the apex and projecting kneelers. The single storey bay has a two-light window.

The northwest facade has three gabled bays. The right and left bays are the same as the two right-hand bays on the front. The central bay has a canted two-storey projection with three large single-light windows on each floor with continuous drip moulding and a castellated parapet at the top.

Interior

The portico with original wide oak door opens into a lobby with black and white tiled floor and an etched glass panelled screen to the main entrance hall. This has a wooden balustered staircase curving past the large stair window and an original stone fireplace with a tall carved wooden overmantel bearing the Ramsden family initials. A number of original doors lead to principal rooms on the northwest and service quarters to the southeast. A large room with a wide bay window to the southwest elevation features a Jacobean style moulded ceiling. The room at the west corner has a blocked stone fireplace, and a number of marble and tile fireplaces survive in several first floor rooms. One of these, which has been moved from its original site in the nursery to an adjoining room, has two circular enamelled panels depicting childhood scenes in a cast iron surround. Another fireplace has Minton tiles in a plain marble surround. Several of the principal rooms on the ground and first floors feature moulded ceilings, and original doors and doorcases survive throughout. The service end of the house is plain, with a second staircase leading to first floor rooms partly under the eaves. Double height skirting boards and distinctive cast iron radiators are also features of interest.

A wall leads from the corner of the inner tall bay at the front to enclose the north-west side of the house, with a semi-circular bastion at the north and west corners.

A detached stable block to the northeast is said to be by E Blore and is constructed in coursed dressed sandstone in a plain gothic style, but has lost its internal features and has been reroofed in concrete tiles.

The hall was built to replace a Tudor building on the same site, commissioned by Sir John William Ramsden, 5th Baronet. William Henry Crossland was closely associated with the Ramsden family, who owned the manor of Huddersfield. The house was sold in 1920 to Huddersfield Corporation and in 1924 a girls school was opened in the building. This was replaced by a special school in 1959, which uses the hall as part of its premises.