Kildwick Hall With Kitchen Block To Rear

Kildwick Hall is a large house, now operated as a hotel. The main range was probably built before 1653 for Henry Currer. The kitchen block dates from 1673 and was built for Hugh Currer. The house was altered between 1722 and 1724 for Howarth, Richard and John Currer, and further modified in the mid-19th century for the Wilson family.

The building is constructed of coursed gritstone rubble with ashlar dressings and has a graduated stone slate roof. The walls have quoins throughout.

Main Range

The main range is three storeys high, with the upper storey partly set within the roof. It has four gabled bays and follows a medieval-type plan comprising a cross passage, central hall and cross wings. The narrower storeyed porch (the third bay) and the cross wings project slightly from the main wall line.

The porch features a studded board door set within a moulded ashlar surround. The spandrels contain interlace motifs and the doorway is topped by a shallow triangular doorhead. Above the door is a hoodmould and a moulded plaque displaying a coat of arms in high relief.

Throughout the building, the windows have recessed ovolo-moulded mullions. On the ground floor, the windows have six, eight (with a king mullion) and six lights. The first floor has windows of six, five plus two, three (to the porch) and six lights. Both the ground and first floors have a continuous hoodmould running across the facade. The gabled second storey has windows of five, three, three and five lights. The two three-light windows have ogee heads, and all second-floor windows have individual hoodmoulds.

The gables have moulded kneelers and gable copings topped with pyramidal knopped finials. The lead downpipes are decorated. One fountain head bears the date 1771, and the fixing plaques are decorated with a mailed fist holding a dagger in relief. The kneelers and gable copings were probably rebuilt at the same date.

The building has several corniced ashlar chimney stacks: on the left and right returns (both external), on the ridge to the left of the second bay, and to the rear of the ridge, to the right of the entrance bay.

Rear Elevation (Main Range)

The ground and first floors at the rear are obscured by a later addition. Two-light recessed chamfered mullion windows light the rear corridor of the second storey.

Left Return

The left return has a doorway left of centre with a moulded surround. The initials "H C" (for Haworth Currer, 1690-1744) appear in the responds, beneath a hoodmould. To the left of the entrance is a two-light ovolo-moulded window with a hoodmould. Similar stepped pairs of windows light the staircase on the first and second floors. A projecting quoined stack is positioned to the right, and a drainpipe dated 1926 is also present.

Right Return (Main Range)

The right return has an inserted glazed door on the right, occupying a former window opening. On the left side, there are cross-windows to the ground and first floors, positioned on the left of an external stack and covered by a hoodmould that returns from the front. To the right on the first floor is a three-light mullion and transom staircase window, with a small chamfered opening to its left. Above is a three-light attic window. A small inserted window sits below the eaves at the far left.

A projecting two-storey bay extends to the right. The ground floor has a canted bay window with mullion and transom windows. The first floor has mullioned windows. Between the windows is a plaque bearing a shield with raised lettering reading "FMRC 1858". The bay has shaped kneelers and a hipped roof. The left return of this bay has a mullion and transom window on the first floor. There is a corniced ashlar ridge stack to the rear and an eaves stack to the right.

This projecting bay sits over the east gable of the rear kitchen block. The two western bays of the southern side of the kitchen block are visible from the west courtyard of the hall.

Kitchen Block

The kitchen block is two storeys high with three bays. The south front has quoins. The ground floor contains a two-light flat-faced mullion window and a three-light recessed chamfered mullion window with a hoodmould, both recessed and chamfered. The hoodmoulds have elaborately carved out-turned stops. The building features stone gutter brackets, shaped kneelers, gable copings, and end stacks to the left and one to the rear of the ridge on the right.

Above the entrance is a carving dated 1673.

Interior

Hall

The porch entrance opens into a large reception room. At the left end is a massive stone arched fireplace. The voussoirs are separate and the chamfer is elaborately moulded. The room contains 17th-century and early 18th-century panelling, some of which has been reset. Two massive ceiling beams have quarter-round moulding to the chamfers.

Front Room (Right)

The front room on the right has a plain fireplace with a 17th-century overmantle. The ceiling features 18th-century Gothic-style plasterwork with deeply moulded panels set with rosettes and fleurs-de-lis.

Staircase

A doorway to the right of the hall fireplace leads to a massive stone staircase located at the rear of the left bay. The staircase consists of four straight flights. The landing ceilings have 17th-century plaster panels with deeply moulded fruit and flowers, including roses and fleurs-de-lis.

Dining Room

The dining room is located in the rear range of the house on the right. It is accessed from the archway opposite the entrance door and features richly decorated wall and ceiling panels.

First Floor

A corridor runs along the rear of the house on the first floor. It has five bolection-moulded doorways with two-panel doors providing access to the front bedrooms.

The room above the hall has a small bolection-moulded fireplace and panelling, including a partition wall with a sealed-up door and cupboards.

A panelled room on the first floor right has a plain fireplace with an elaborate overmantle decorated with arcading, attached columns and strapwork. The ceiling cornice and beam feature relief plaster decoration including heraldic beasts, icons, bosses and vine scrolls.

All first-floor windows have shutters with fielded panels. The inner faces of the mullions are ovolo-moulded.

A back staircase between the first and second floors is located to the rear left. It consists of two flights with a knopped column on vase balusters and a moulded handrail.

Second Floor

The front rooms on the second floor are ceiled just above tie-beam level. The main roof was not inspected during resurvey.

Kitchen Block Interior

The kitchen block has a massive fireplace with a deep chamfer and a wide doorway to the right, which formerly led to the scullery and larder. Between the fireplace and doorway is a carving in relief of the initials "H C". Mullioned windows in the east gable are now blocked or altered.

Stained Glass

Early painted glass survives in the window lighting the first half-landing of the main staircase. It features the initials "H G" and "E R", a cross and three lions' heads. The glass is mounted in 19th-century or early 20th-century leading and possibly came from the church.

Historical Context

The Currer and Richardson families were responsible for the building work at Kildwick. Hugh Currer (died 1617) bought the manor of Kildwick. His son Henry (1587-1653) bought the Grange, reuniting the Bolton Abbey lands at Kildwick which had been divided shortly after the Dissolution. Henry probably built the main range of the house.

Henry's son Hugh (1608-1690) made significant additions. His initials appear in the kitchen range and also feature with those of his wife, Ann Haworth of Thurcroft, reset on a fountain head dated 1663 in the Justice Room. The coat of arms above the entrance are those of Currer and Haworth.

Their son Henry (died 1723) was a Justice and probably built the Justice Room. One of their grandsons was given the name Haworth Currer (1690-1744). He was probably responsible for laying out the gardens. His sister Dorothy inherited the estate on his death and probably brought further wealth to the family on her marriage in 1705 to Richard Richardson of Brierley (died 1741).

Their son John Richardson (1721-1784) assumed the name Currer and succeeded to the estate in 1759. The date 1771 and the Richardson badge of a fist clasping a dagger on the lead downpipes suggest further work on the roofs and elsewhere during his tenure.

In 1784 the estate passed via John's nephew Henry to Margaret Clive, Henry's widow. In 1800 Margaret married her cousin Matthew Wilson at Gargrave. The family house was Eshton Hall.

Margaret's daughter and heiress Frances Mary Richardson Currer (1785-1861) had her initials added to the bay-windowed dining room. When the house passed from the Richardson to the Wilson families, it ceased to be occupied by the owners and was tenanted throughout the 19th century, except during 1825-1826 when Eshton Hall was being rebuilt and Matthew Wilson lived at Kildwick Hall until 1841.

Frances' half-brother inherited the estate in 1861. During the early 20th century, the house was converted into a private hotel during the 1970s.

The house is often associated with the Brontë family, but no direct links between the Brontë and Richardson Currer families are known, apart from the family name Haworth and the nom-de-plume Currer Bell adopted by Charlotte Brontë.