St Columbans

St Columban's, formerly known as Airy Hill, was built in 1790. It is a large, two-storey house constructed of ashlar stone. The south side features five sash windows. The first floor is divided into bays by Ionic pilasters, with the central bay showcasing a Venetian window framed by radiating rustication around an Ionic column, and featuring architraves with pulvinated friezes and dentilled cornices. A round-headed recess is also present. Other first-floor windows have caved architraves and cills with cornices. The ground floor windows incorporate square block rusticated architraves with triple keyblocks, with Doric columns positioned between the outer windows, supported by a full entablature with triglyphs. A patterned band runs at this level from the columns to the ends of the elevation. Angle quoins detail the corners. A central, projecting 19th-century porch is flanked by a pair of Doric columns, again with a full entablature. The recessed door has curved stone reveals and an openwork parapet. The house is crowned by a dentilled parapet, with a pediment at the centre containing an oval window with ornamental glazing and an architrave surround. A balustrade extends to the outer parts, with ramped ends containing vases in niches. Single-storey projecting end pavilions feature quoins, cornices, and pyramidal roofs with ball finials, along with Venetian windows. Curved walls connect these pavilions to the main house.

The garden front is also of stone, two storeys high, with a 1-3-1 arrangement of sash windows, each with an architrave. The central window is flanked by consoles. A pedimented Corinthian portico with four columns leads up a flight of nine steps. The ground floor windows have square block rusticated detailing, and an enriched band separates the floors. A balustraded and pedimented parapet with curved ramps containing urns completes the facade.

The interior retains its original staircase, doors, and other features. A drawing room fireplace displays an enriched Adam-style design, featuring grey marble steps and a polished steel grate. Several original fireplaces remain. A room in the right-hand pavilion (facing the front) was previously used as a magistrate's court and contains two contemporary, polished mahogany fitted bookcases with glazed doors. Others have been relocated - one to the library, and another to the new, larger drawing room. The house was built by Richard Moorson, a local shipowner, landowner, and Justice of the Peace. A sundial, originally facing the garden front, is now housed in the museum, bearing an inscription concerning the exploits of Captain Robert Moorson (later Admiral Sir Robert Moorson K.C.B.) at Trafalgar. The house is referenced in Young’s 'Whitby' from 1817.