Bolton Abbey Hall

This is a house, originally the gatehouse to Bolton Abbey. The core of the building dates to the 14th century, with significant additions made in the mid-19th century by Sir Joseph Paxton. The building is constructed of ashlar, with a graduated stone slate roof.

The south range is two storeys high with three bays. The original gatehouse block is three storeys and one bay. The north range is two storeys high with four bays, plus a three-storey bay to the extreme right. The south range features a mid-19th century offset diagonal buttress to the left, topped with embattled turrets, alongside a board door set in a four-centred arch with a flat hoodmould. It also has two four-light, chamfered mullioned windows with cusped lights and flat hoodmoulds. The first floor has two three-light and one two-light windows similar to those below. A band runs along the top, culminating in an embattled parapet.

The 14th century gatehouse block has 19th-century alterations. It has offset diagonal buttresses. The great gateway has a pointed arch with hoodmould, now infilled with a central two-light pointed arched window, flanked by smaller five-centred arched windows. The first floor contains a four-light double-chamfered mullioned window, with a buttress to each side which rises to the top of the second floor window. Above this is a two-light chamfered mullioned window with cusped lights, a flat hoodmould, and flanking slit openings. A band runs along the top, leading to an embattled parapet with embattled turrets on the buttresses.

The north range’s five left-hand bays have three-light, chamfered mullioned windows; bays one and four have two-light windows. Windows on the ground floor have hoodmoulds. An embattled parapet runs along the top. The right-hand bay has an offset diagonal buttress rising to the second storey. Large three-light, chamfered mullioned windows with transoms span two storeys, flanked below the bottom transom by an extra light on either side and a hoodmould. The third storey has a two-light, chamfered mullioned window with hoodmould. The embattled gabled parapet has a two-shaft stack at its apex, with an embattled turret to each side. End and ridge stacks are also present.

Inside the gatehouse, a cross-wall divides it into two parts, with a small separate passage. A spiral staircase leads to the upper floors. The roof is of pointed tunnel-vaults, featuring ridge ribs, longitudinal rills, and closely set transverse arches. The west entrance is blocked by a large 16th-century fireplace. At the east entrance is a reused doorway dating to around 1370, possibly from the abbey chapter house. The building was converted into a house by the Devonshire family.