Padside Hall And Attached Courtyard Wall

Padside Hall and Attached Courtyard Wall

A house and courtyard wall dating from the late 16th to early 17th century, with 19th-century alterations and restoration ongoing at the time of survey. The building was probably built for the Wigglesworth family and is constructed in gritstone with graduated stone slate roofs.

The structure follows a hall and cross-wing plan. The south face, including the courtyard wall, and the chimney stacks are built of smoothly-dressed squared blocks, with this quality continued around the outer corners of the wings. The remainder is of roughly-finished coursed rubble. The hall comprises three bays with a rear outshut, and the right wing extends to five bays. The left (west) wing is now ruined. The wings are linked by a courtyard wall approximately 3 metres high, featuring a central gateway with chamfered-quoined jambs and a shallow four-centred arched lintel in two parts.

The building displays a cyma-moulded plinth and quoins. Windows throughout have recessed-chamfered mullions, some with hollow-moulded mullions. The hall features a studded plank door on the right in a chamfered quoined surround with the underside of the lintel cut away. To the left is a window of five lights with a three-light window above it, both with hoodmoulds. The left wing retains a three-light window in its south gable surviving to first-floor level, with an inserted doorway on the left return and two ground-floor windows of two and three lights on the right return; the upper storey has been rebuilt. The right wing's south gable has a blocked door on the left with a square opening above, and a three-light window on the right at ground and first-floor level, with a lower part of a blocked single-light window cut by the eaves line at the apex. The wing displays shaped kneelers, gable coping, and remains of a finial at the apex, with an external stack to the right and another on the ridge to the rear. The rear elevation shows a three-light window at ground-floor level on the right, and an external stack on three corbels at first-floor level with projecting stones, possibly a door jamb. The left return on the courtyard side has a restored cart entrance to the left of centre with pigeon-holes above and a Blight window to the right; first-floor windows of four and three lights feature hoodmoulds. The right return shows, from left to right: a small square opening at ground level, an external stack with an oven and a shaft above eaves level (restored around 1970), and a first-floor stack supported by two corbels also restored; bays three, four, and five have ground-floor windows of two, two, and three lights respectively, with first-floor windows of two and four lights.

Interior

The hall contains an entry into a cross passage with two former service-room doors to the right and a fireplace to the left. The service-room doorways have deeply-chamfered quoined surrounds with rounded pyramid stops. The fireplace comprises an outer inglenook with a free-standing column on a square stylobate to the left, supporting a timber mantel beam and stone superstructure. An inserted fireplace within features cyma-moulded stone brackets supporting a stone lintel and a cast-iron range. A blocked doorway to the left of the fireplace has a stopped-chamfered surround matching those at the opposite end of the room. Splat balusters reused in a ladder stair to the left of the fireplace remain, with the upper floor cut away to form a gallery. Two principal rafter trusses are present, with the through purlins replaced by trenched purlins. The right wing's north gable end displays bolection-moulded fireplaces at ground and first-floor levels, with the right-hand jamb and end of lintel of a wider fireplace visible at first-floor level. A massive fireplace with a cambered arch and oven opening occupies the south end of the right wall; the floor above is missing. The cross wall dividing this wing shows multiple phases of construction, including a central section of smooth-finished masonry with a vertical chamfered straight joint. An inserted straight flight staircase cuts across the right-hand doorway from the hall.

Historical Context

The site was owned by the Ingilbys of Ripley Castle, with Sir William Ingilby having died there in 1579, when a detailed inventory of the building was recorded. The rooms listed in that inventory correspond to a hall and cross-wing plan, suggesting the present house dates from that period or more probably represents a rebuild in stone from the early 17th century. A tower or stair turret was historically recorded at the north-east corner but was demolished around 1890, with its materials subsequently used in constructing a barn to the west of the hall. The house remained in the possession of the Wigglesworths of Craven until 1891, by which time the east wing had been substantially altered and the outshut addition to the hall had probably been built. George Blackburn of Halifax subsequently purchased the hall and leased it to tenants. The old kitchen at the south end of the east wing was converted to a byre and barn, and the hall became a farmhouse. The west wing became a separate property around 1960, and the demolition of its roof and walls has occurred since then.