Hartforth Hall

Hartforth Hall is a country house first built in 1744 for the Cradock family, with a substantial addition dated 1792 (probably designed by John Foss of Richmond) and further additions dating from the late 19th century to around 1900. The building is constructed of sandstone—partly rubble and partly coursed—with some ashlar dressings and is roofed with Westmorland slate.

The house is two storeys tall. The south elevation is organised as 2:3:3 bays. The central three bays, which belong to the original 1744 house, project slightly and are of rubble construction. They feature central leaved glazed doors below an overlight within an architrave, surrounded by rusticated quoined ashlar with a tripartite keystone and pediment. Sash windows in ashlar architraves flank these doors, slightly smaller on the first floor. A modillion cornice runs across this section, topped by a turned-baluster parapet with square pedestals and urn finials at the ends. The two bays to the left are of rubble with matching fenestration; a lead rainwater pipe in the angle to the right bears a hopper head cast "SC 1744". An eaves band sits below a plain parapet with an urn finial to the left and scroll supporting the parapet over the central range; the roof is hipped to the left, with corniced panelled ashlar stacks between the second and third bays. The three bays to the right were probably rebuilt around 1900 in coursed stone with matching fenestration and parapet details; the roof is hipped to the right with a matching stack between the fifth and sixth bays.

The left return elevation is composed of 2:2:1:3:2 bays. The ninth and tenth bays are of rubble with fenestration matching that of the front. The sixth to eighth bays (inclusive) are coursed stone with a plinth and a two-storey semicircular bow containing three bays of sash windows in ashlar architraves with glazing bars on the ground floor. Lead rainwater pipes and hopper heads cast "SC 1792" sit in the angles to left and right. The fifth bay is of rubble with a plinth, containing a four-pane casement window on the ground floor and a sash window on the first floor, both in raised ashlar surrounds. A straight joint marks the boundary between the fourth and fifth bays. The third and fourth bays have no plinth but have quoins to the left and four-pane sash windows on the ground floor and sash windows on the first floor, all in raised ashlar surrounds. The first and second bays are of coursed stone, with a four-panel door below a six-pane overlight to the left and four-pane sash windows in raised ashlar surrounds on the first floor; a scar of a yard wall appears to the right of the door. The entire left return facade has a band below an ashlar parapet and corniced ashlar stacks between the second and third, fourth and fifth, fifth and sixth, eighth and ninth bays.

The right return elevation comprises 2:3:2 bays of coursed stone with ashlar dressings and a plinth. The centre bay is curved, with leaved glazed doors in an architrave within a tetrastyle prostyle Doric portico; the blocking course bears the inscription "TAKUFORTE 1900". Matching windows flank these doors, with matching windows above on the first floor flanked by Tuscan pilasters. Cavetto-shaped brackets below the cornice support a parapet with turned balusters and urn finials at the outer ends. The roof is hipped, with corniced ashlar stacks between the second and third and between the fifth and sixth bays. To the right is a single-storey range forming part of a service range around a sunken paved yard, with a six-panel leaved door in an architrave with a tripartite keystone and recessed panels above and to the right, together with a band and parapet.

The interior arrangement reflects the building's multiple phases. The entrance range, remodelled in the late 19th century to around 1900, contains a hall, a staircase hall beyond, a sitting room to the left and an office to the right. In the centre of the south front is a large room of circa 1744 featuring egg-and-dart edging to the panelling, a modillion cornice, and a fireplace with egg-and-dart edging. The fireplace frieze displays acanthus scrolls with two cornucopiae framing a fox's head. Egg-and-dart motifs ornament the overmantel, with a frieze incorporating real sea-shells below a pediment. Panels with sea-shell drops sit over doorways with bay-leaf garlands on torus friezes; the doors have six fielded panels. A room of the same date beyond features matching doorcases and doors with carved edges to the panels and matching shutters with beaded panels; the cornice carries modillions and rosettes.

North of this is a sitting room dated 1792, with a segmental-bow-windowed end, a marble fireplace, an anthemion frieze and an Adam-style ceiling. To the east is an open-well staircase of 1792 with cantilevered stone steps, a bracketed string, a wreathed handrail on the curtail step, and square-section wrought-iron balusters. The staircase is top-lit from a lantern with lunettes and has an Adam-style ceiling. Above the sitting room is a bedroom of 1792, also with a segmental-bow-windowed end, an acanthus-leaf frieze, and columns with acanthus-leaf capitals at the end opposite the window.

In the north-west corner are former kitchens, one of which contains a tripartite fireplace with segmental arches. An outbuilding between the present house and the former stable yard, partly beneath the latter, may represent the earlier manor house.