Nocton Hall

Nocton Hall is a country house built in 1841 by William Shearman for the Earl and Countess of Ripon. It is now ruinous, following a fire in 2004. The house is constructed of brick and stone, with Ancaster stone dressings. The main block is roughly rectangular, with a projecting service wing to the north forming an overall L-shape.

The building is two principal storeys high, with attic and basement levels, designed in an Elizabethan Revival style, characterised by irregular, asymmetrical fenestration and detailing. Windows originally had mullion and transom openings, many of which are now lost, typically with hoodmoulds above. Chimneys have clusters of octagonal moulded stacks where they survive. Moulded stringcourses are present between the floor levels in some areas, and gables retain moulded coping stones where visible.

The main entrance is in the north elevation, set within a single-storey projecting bay with a moulded arch opening and a parapet with quatrefoil panels. Three dormers at attic level originally flanked tall gables with chimneys at each end, with the eastern gable and dormers now lost. A tall projecting gable is adjacent in the service wing, facing the main entrance.

The other elevations each faced areas of garden and are irregular, now largely obscured by ivy and plant growth at lower levels. The western elevation features an off-centre door at ground floor with Perpendicular style tracery, above which is an oriel window with parapet detailing similar to the main door. An adjacent chimney has carved panels at ground and first floor levels, the first-floor panel displaying the crest of the Ellys family.

The southern elevation has a further carved panel with a coat of arms (currently obscured) above a ground floor window in a projecting bay. The eastern elevation features a projecting central block, only one of the original three dormer windows remaining above, flanked to the left by a double-height canted bay and to the right by a single-storey bay that adjoins the service wing.

The interior retains its principal internal masonry and structural walls, but is otherwise lost, with all internal floors and the majority of fittings no longer surviving. Areas show a mix of stone and brick construction, suggesting possible re-used earlier fabric. The layout of the ground floor, including doorways between rooms, is discernible from the surviving walls. Small fragments of internal plasterwork are visible, and the lining of the main stair’s position in the central hall can be seen. Portions of the secondary stair survive, including some cantilevered stone treads and sections of metal balustrading.