Whitehall

Whitehall is a tower house and private house, largely of 14th and 15th century origin, with significant alterations dated 1589 and 1861. The building has a complex history, having been in the Salkeld family until 1746, falling into ruin, and subsequently restored by George Moore in 1858. It was later owned by the County Council and used for Civil Defence Corps training before being sold back to the Parkin-Moore family.

The building is constructed of mixed red and calciferous sandstone rubble, partly squared and coursed, with a battlemented parapet and angle turret featuring flush quoins. The tower has a graduated greenslate roof and the hall range has a graduated greenslate roof with a coped gable and ball finials. A 3-storey, 2-bay tower is set alongside a 2-storey, 3-bay hall range, which appears contemporary.

A C19 plank door is set under a C19 Tudor arch inscribed with a biblical text and bearing original 16th-century hoodmould inscription “TS.” Several 2-light Tudor-style windows are present, some original to the 16th century, others from the 19th century. A small carved stone coat-of-arms is built into the wall at first-floor level. A projection to the left was linked to a 1861-1907 extension, now demolished, leaving only foundation courses.

The hall features C19 ground-floor windows, with a blocked C16 doorway above, retaining its hoodmould and coat-of-arms label stops. An original 3-light Tudor window is present to the left, also under a hoodmould with “T.S.” label stops. The end wall on the right displays a small 16th-century carved stone coat-of-arms. The rear wall of the tower has a blocked ground-floor Tudor window. A small, chamfered-surround window is located to the left with blocked openings above, originally illuminating a newel staircase.

Internally, the tower has undergone extensive 19th-century alterations, including a newel staircase from the second floor to the parapet, which originally extended from the ground floor into the turret. A fireplace in the hall’s ground floor is dated and inscribed with “W. & L. P.M.” (Parkin-Moore) from 1900. An upper floor room possesses a Tudor-style stone fireplace and a panelled plaster ceiling bearing a cartouche inscribed “G. & A.M.”