Whixley Hall

Whixley Hall is a house, now divided into two dwellings, dating from the mid-to-late 17th century. It comprises two distinct building phases and underwent restoration in 1907. The construction is primarily red brick in English bond, with 20th-century ashlar detailing, and a stone slate roof. The building has an H-shaped plan, incorporating a rear courtyard, with the south and west ranges built onto the original east range. The house is two storeys high, featuring seven first-floor windows, with the two at each end situated within slightly projecting wings. A stone-capped plinth runs along the base, and the central entrance features a 20th-century six-panel door with a decorative overlight, set within a heavily moulded ashlar surround, including consoles supporting a broken segmental pediment topped with a vase. The windows are wooden cross-windows with glazing bars, set beneath flat brick arches. The wings incorporate giant pilaster strips, which frame the windows and feature ground-floor drip moulds. A deep wooden eaves cornice, featuring modillions, runs along the building line. The wings have hipped roofs, and there are two stacks: one on the ridge between the central block and the left wing, and another further to the right. At the rear, on the ground floor and left-hand side of the east range, is a four-light mullioned window. Tumbled brickwork is visible in the gable. A reset datestone inscribed “1840 L.W.” in a scrolled surround is built into the right return of this range. Most of the remaining rear windows are 20th-century replacements. The west return, with eight bays, has a reset datestone of 1680. The east return exhibits scattered fenestration, an external stack, a three-light mullioned window to the first floor on the left, and a large staircase window below. Another reset datestone, inscribed "RT KT 1654," is also present. The interior of the east range contains a fine dog-leg staircase with turned balusters and tall, angularly-carved newel posts rising above the moulded handrail. An engraving in the hall, dated 1698 and inscribed "Christopher Tancred's seat," depicts the south front prior to the 20th-century restoration. Christopher Tancred died in 1754 and bequeathed the hall to be used as an almshouse for twelve ‘decayed gentlemen’. The hall functioned as an almshouse or ‘hospital’ until after 1850, but was disused by 1881. The central section of the south front was restored and rebuilt by Walter Brierley in 1907, closely following the original design.