Brook Hall

Brook Hall is a house built around 1835, with alterations made in 1894 and 1937. The original house was possibly designed by Atkinsons of York, with later work by Walter Brierley. It is constructed of brown brick with pinkish sandstone dressings and grey Welsh slate roofs.

Plan and Layout

The house has its principal front facing west, with gardens mainly to the east. The entrance hall is central, flanked by a principal room on either side at the front. Behind these, a staircase rises at the rear with a further room on either side. To the right is a passage leading to a side entrance, with a cloakroom opposite the stair. The first floor contains four bedrooms and a bathroom, with an attic floor above. Attached to the left (north) of the main house is a separate two-storey dwelling with kitchen, sitting room, scullery and three bedrooms arranged off a central corridor.

West Elevation

The west elevation has three bays with a slightly projecting central entrance bay. The three first floor windows are tall casements with margin lights. The central window has a transom to a top light and is fronted by a stone balcony with pierced balustrade. A string course in stone runs at the base of the first floor windows.

On the ground floor, two tripartite shallow curved bay windows flank the porch, which has a pair of columns in antis with palm capitals and curved brackets supporting the balcony above. Arched recesses between the porch and bay windows link them together, forming a unified frontage. The windows retain their original glazing to the upper lights but have replacement panes below, within the original frames. A broad flight of steps flanked by low walls leads to the entrance.

The roof is low-pitched and hipped with broadly overhanging bracketed eaves and shallow gutters, and a central arched dormer window. Chimneys stand at each side. The 1938 extension to the left is in Queen Anne style with four windows on each of two floors and a slate roof hipped to the left. This extension is much lower than the main house and has 16-pane sash windows.

East (Garden) Elevation

The east elevation also has a projecting central bay with a half-glazed door with margin lights, flanked by round-arch margin light windows. Above are three tall round-arch sash windows with horizontal glazing bars. The bays to each side have square bay windows with tripartite 1-over-1 horned sash windows to the front and a single light to the outer side, in stone dressings with stone parapet. The two first floor windows above are 6-over-6 unhorned sashes.

South and North Returns

The right return (south) has three ground floor French windows, all with margin lights, and three first floor windows with 6-over-6 unhorned sashes. The central bay, which projects slightly, is pedimented with a round arch attic window at the apex.

The left return is occupied by the 1938 extension and has a garage entrance to the left, storeroom to the right and an outside stair to the accommodation (this is the ground floor owing to the fall in ground level). Above the extension is a similar pediment and attic window to the right return.

Interior

The double front door is half-glazed and leads into a hall with shallow pilasters and entablature. Doors to the right and left lead into the front principal rooms and have four panels separated by a horizontal panel. The inner hall is beyond an arch with pilasters and leads to the garden door. The shallow cantilevered dogleg stone staircase rises from the inner hall and has cast iron balusters and mahogany handrail.

The right-hand room has delicate coving and central ceiling rose. The bay window has flanking pilasters and entablature with console brackets, panelled shutters and soffit. The fireplace surround is in pine with gesso decoration and tiles, believed to be late 18th century, imported from Kirkgate House in Tadcaster in 1938. To either side are French windows opening to the garden on the north side.

The left-hand front room, now a kitchen, has a similar bay window and has cornicing enhanced by floral swags. The eastern end has arched niches to either side of a wide folding doorway into the rear room, with pilasters, console brackets and plasterwork panelling to the ceiling. A secondary door leads into the 1938 extension. The adjoining room has a fireplace with a painted surround with swags and dentils of late 18th century date, also probably imported from Kirkgate House. The cornice excludes the bay window, as does that in the rear right room. This room has a bolection moulded fireplace probably inserted in 1894. A passage leads to a glazed door to the north garden area, and there is a cloakroom adjacent to the hall with a tiled floor in a woven design.

The stair rises to a half landing with cloakroom off, then to a first floor landing with arched recesses, pilasters and a plaster vaulted ceiling. The four bedrooms retain original doors, architraves, skirtings and cornices. Above is an attic which has been divided with partition walls to form further rooms, utilising the original windows with the addition of a roof light to the rear. There is also a full set of cellars which lead under the extension to emerge at ground level to the left (north) of the building.

The 1938 extension has no internal features of special interest.

History

The house was built around 1835, prior to 1837 when it was occupied by Miss Brook and Mrs Dawson, daughters of James Brook of Wetherby, according to White's Directory of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Mrs Dawson was still in residence in 1861 with her son John. The Dawson family retained ownership until 1938 when it was bought by Mr and Mrs Bromet, Solicitors. It remains in the Bromet family.

Architectural details suggest that it may have been designed by Atkinsons of York, who designed Fishergate House in York. There was originally a single storey service wing to the south side of the house, which extended forward of the garden front and had a curved entranceway to the south.

In 1894, Walter Brierley was engaged to undertake alterations to the house. These appear to have involved the enlargement of the service wing to a full three storeys, though lower than the main house, and the addition of the two square bay windows to the garden front.

In 1938, on the acquisition of the house by the Bromets, the service wing was removed completely and a new wing added to the north, originally to act as a service wing but since separated to form independent accommodation. This was designed by RB Armistead of Bradford.

The functions of the rooms have altered over time, with the former drawing room, then dining room, now a kitchen (since 1955), and the current dining room originally a library, then a sitting room. The rear right room was originally a gun room, then a nursery. The floor plan remains largely unaltered.

Significance

Brook Hall is designated at Grade II because there is documentary evidence to date the house to before 1840. It is stylistically advanced for its date and has architectural parallels to Fishergate House in York, of similar date and designed by JB and W Atkinson. Its core remains intact, with all the major rooms retaining their original proportions, with cornices, skirtings, doors and architraves, and with an original staircase. Later interventions were by named architects, W Brierley and RB Armistead, and are in keeping with the original, demonstrating the development of the house over time. The quality of the design is carried through in the quality of materials and craftsmanship, with a number of individually executed decorative details of plasterwork and stonework. The loss of original fireplaces is mitigated by the introduction of several high quality fireplaces from another house, dating to the late 18th century. The house stands in its original grounds with some traces of original landscaping and has group value with the adjacent Grade I listed church.