Leases Hall

Leases Hall is a house dating from around 1740, with later 18th-century additions. The external walls are roughcast, with ashlar stone dressings and graduated stone slate roofs. The main central section of the house consists of three storeys and five bays, with a one-bay addition of a similar height on either side. The central entrance has a half-glazed door flanked by pairs of two-pane sash windows. A sill band runs across the first floor. The sashes on this floor retain their original thick glazing bars. The second floor has six-pane sashes, also with original thick glazing bars and stone sills. The later 18th-century additions to the outer bays are two-storey canted bay windows with sashes and glazing bars, along with decorative friezes and hipped roofs. A band runs along the eaves of the central five bays, while the outer bays have embattled parapets. The central bays have stone coping and end stacks, while the outer bays have hipped roofs. At the rear of the house is a round-headed stair window with radiating glazing bars. The outer bays project forward to create bowed wings, each with three bays. The interior includes an open-well staircase with thin bulbous and umbrella-shaped balusters. Historically, the house began as a coaching inn situated on the Great North Road.