Gateforth Hall

Gateforth Hall is a large house dating from 1814, built for Humphrey Osbalderston. It is constructed of gault brick with magnesian limestone ashlar dressings, a red brick basement to the left, and a grey slate roof with rendered stacks. The house has a square plan with a central entrance hall and a service wing to the right. It is two storeys high with a basement to the sides and rear, and features a three-bay facade, with the central bay forming a full-height, three-window bow. A four-stage curved stone staircase leads to a portico with four giant Ionic columns supporting a frieze, cornice, and a low parapet. The entrance is a six-panel door with fluted jambs, above which is a decorated rectangular fanlight and a gauged brick flat arch. Tall, narrow sash windows with glazing bars and aprons are located on either side of the entrance, also beneath gauged brick flat arches. On the first floor, the central sash has glazing bars, complemented by tall, narrow eight-pane sashes under flat arches of rubbed brick with stone sills. All openings on the bow are cambered to follow the curve. The outer bays have ground-floor sashes with glazing bars and aprons on a plinth, and first-floor sashes with glazing bars and stone sills, all under gauged brick flat arches. A cornice and low parapet conceal a hipped, flat-topped roof with four central stacks. Several original windows remain on the sides of the building. The service wing is two storeys high with seven first-floor windows, many retaining original sashes with glazing bars. Modillion brackets support the eaves. The interior of the main block retains numerous original features, including a coffered arch in the entrance hall. The inner, full-height entrance hall has a two-storey screen incorporating paired Ionic columns supporting a decorative frieze and cornice at the first floor, from which rise a pair of Corinthian columns. An oak staircase features an iron balustrade decorated with anthemion motifs, and a moulded ceiling with a roof light. Most six-panel doors and fluted doorcases remain, along with fixed window shutters. Marble fireplaces are present in the hall and most first-floor rooms, alongside moulded decoration to most ground floor ceilings and the master bedroom.