Oakroyd Hall, Fire Service Head Quarters Oakroyd Drive

Oakroyd Hall, Fire Service Headquarters, Oakroyd Drive

House, now Fire Service Headquarters, built in 1867 for the Ackroyd family on the site of a former colliery. The building is a two-storey H-plan structure with a three-storey extension to the rear and a single-storey 1902 billiard room to the north-east wing. Twentieth-century extensions have been added to the west. The main house is constructed in coursed ashlar, the west wing extension in coursed stone, with all roofs covered in blue slate.

The south-east elevation features a central recess containing three windows on each floor. The first floor windows have semi-circular arches. Coped gabled wings flank either side. The ground floor displays canted stone mullioned bay windows supporting 'guilloche' balustraded balconies to the first floor windows, which are original and executed in Palladian style with semi-circular arches, deeply moulded surrounds, and alternating plain and vermiculated voussoirs. A continuous moulded string course runs at arch springing level.

The north-east elevation presents a symmetrical broken front with an elevated segmental pediment. It contains two ground floor and three first floor windows. A central round-headed doorway with moulded surrounds and carved keystone opens to a door with margin lights and fanlight above. Rusticated quoins at ground floor frame pilasters around the doorway. Above is a balcony with 'guilloche' balustrade supported on scrolled consoles. The first floor windows display semi-circular arches, and ornamental scrolling decorates the pediment's tympanum.

The west wing extension rises two storeys beneath a double hipped roof with lucerne windows above, built in coursed stone. The ground floor is partially obscured by modern extensions. The lucerne windows feature semi-circular arches and segmental pediments; two retain original glazing.

The billiard room, a single-storey extension to the north-east wing, is faced in coursed ashlar with coursed stone to other elevations. Its north-east elevation contains a rectangular bay with a stone mullioned window. Two further two-arch mullioned windows face the north-west elevation, both with decorative Art Nouveau-style leading. Decorative carved stone roundels flank the bay. A single chimney stack rises from the north-west gable.

The interior begins with a square entrance lobby featuring a moulded plaster ceiling with elaborate coving and an inner doorway matching the outer door with a round-headed arch supported on plain pilasters. Beyond lies a hallway with moulded coving, pilasters with scrolled capitals, and lower wall panelling. Ionic-style columns support the entrance to the stairwell to the right. The stairwell contains an open well with quarter-pace landings, elegant metal balusters, and a moulded wooden handrail. An arched stair window retains replacement glazing following the original pattern, while the ceiling features deep coving with elaborate moulding.

The principal rooms to the left of the hall include the first room, which displays elaborate dentilated coving, wall panels partly surmounted by a decorative frieze, a decorative architrave to the door, two Corinthian-style columns, and a bay window with replacement glazing. A second room serves as an ante-room to the next principal space, which features elaborate moulded coving, wall panelling, a moulded plaster ceiling, and an extra decorative frieze on the chimney breast. Its window matches that of the first room. The remainder of the ground floor contains offices and link passages to modern extensions, as well as a second staircase. The first floor has been altered and is relatively plain, though window frames are original throughout. The second staircase continues to the attic floor, where two original windows remain. The billiard room is accessed via a wood-panelled door and is panelled throughout, featuring an elaborate carved wooden and tile fireplace and overmantel. A stone arch frames the bay window, and stone mullions remain visible to the north-west-facing windows.

The house remained in private ownership until 1947, when it became a children's home. It subsequently served as a government building before becoming the Fire Service headquarters in 1964.

The building is listed at Grade II as a substantially intact mid-Victorian house with a fine circa 1900 billiard room. Despite twentieth-century extensions and alterations, it retains its handsome Italianate elevations and considerable interior interest.