Low Hall

Low Hall is a house dated 1635, likely built for Matthew Wood. It is constructed of smoothly dressed gritstone with a graduated stone slate roof. The house is two storeys with an attic and has three bays, with gables facing the main facade. It features a plinth and a continuous dripmould to both the ground and first floors. The entrance is a double door with glazing, set within a moulded, chamfered surround and a shallow 4-centred arch. Above the door is a datestone inscribed '1635 MW' flanked by a fan motif under roll moulding, itself flanked by carved flower heads. The ground floor windows are mullioned and transomed, with 4, 7, and 6 lights respectively. The first-floor windows are similarly designed but shorter, with 4, 6, and 5 lights, with a small light between bays 1 and 2 and a cross window between bays 2 and 3. The attic storey has paired round-headed lights under hoodmoulds. All windows are recessed-chamfered, and the dripmould breaks forward above the windows with stepped labels and leaf-embellished labels at the entrance. Elaborate shaped kneelers and gable coping carry finials at the apex of the gables and valleys. A large stack is situated in the valley between bays 1 and 2, with a further external stack on the right side. The rear elevation has a board door to the right and a 4-light mullion and transom window to the left of centre; other mullion windows are present with hoodmoulds, some of which have been restored. Castellated rainwater heads are at the valleys. The left return has 4-light and single-light ground-floor windows, and 3-light and an inserted single-light first-floor windows. The right return features 2-light ground and first-floor windows, with an external stack stepped in at the first floor, the steps supporting stone gutters. Extensions were added around 1920 and are not considered historically significant. The interior was not inspected during a recent survey and saw extensive alterations in 1920, including the removal of the staircase, kitchen fireplace and chimney, along with the relocation of other fireplaces and the introduction of 17th-century panelling. A terrace was constructed on the ground floor, partially obscuring the plinth. The ground-floor dripmould returns from the front over a single-light window. A North Yorkshire and Cleveland Vernacular Buildings Study Group report (number 457, 1978) provides further detail.