Hipswell Hall

Hipswell Hall is a fortified manor house, now a farmhouse, dating from the 15th century with alterations made in 1596. It was originally the manor house of the Fulthorpe family and later altered for George Wandesford. The western range is constructed of coursed stone, partially roughcast, with ashlar dressings and a stone slate roof. It is two storeys high, with a near-central three-storey tower porch, featuring two first-floor windows. Quoins are present, and the building has an embattled parapet.

The porch has a part-glazed door set within a chamfered ashlar surround, and a triangular soffit to the lintel. Above the door is a plaque with raised lettering “GW 1596”. The first floor of the porch features a two-light double-chamfered mullion window with vertical iron bars and a hoodmould, while the second floor has a similar two-light double-chamfered mullion window with vertical iron bars. A light vent, double-chamfered, is situated between the ground and first floors on the left return of the porch. Waterspouts originate from the parapet on both the left and right returns of the porch.

To the left of the porch, a four-light double-chamfered mullion window with vertical iron bars and a hoodmould is present on the ground floor. Above it, a four-light double-chamfered mullion and transom window, also with vertical iron bars and a hoodmould, occupies the first floor. To the right of the porch is a two-storey, five-sided bay window with ogee lights in square heads, featuring recessed spandrels and vertical iron bars. The first-floor windows are cinquefoil-cusped, while the ground-floor cusping has been removed. Between these windows is a traceried panel displaying a cross moline, the arms of the Fulthorpe family. A crenellated parapet tops this section, with a waterspout originating from the parapet to the right of the bay window.

The rear of the building shows that most original openings have been blocked, including a doorway and windows. A first-floor window with two pointed lights remains. A two-storey, flat-roofed extension, thought to date from around 1917, incorporates reused old materials. A re-set chamfered doorway with a triangular soffit to the lintel and board door is on the left return of this extension. The right return of the building has a five-light chamfered mullion window with a hoodmould on the ground floor and a five-light chamfered mullion and transom window with a hoodmould on the first floor.

Inside, an armorial shield is cast in plaster on the ceiling of the ground floor bay window. The manor house is depicted in Samuel Buck’s Yorkshire Sketchbook (1979), page 384.