Details
MOULTON MOULTON
NZ 2203-2303
10/101 Moulton Hall
19.12.51
GV I
Country house. Early-mid C17. For the Smithson family. Ashlar and rubble,
pantile and Westmorland slate roofs. 3 storeys plus cellar and attics, 5 x
2 bays, rectangular plan with central spine wall containing fireplaces,
garderobes etc, and with 2-storey service wing projecting from rear right.
East elevation: ashlar, banded rustication with hammered finish on bands.
Moulded plinth, stepped down below windows. Chamfered rusticated quoins.
Central single-storey flat-roofed porch in chamfered rusticated ashlar with
corner Tuscan pilasters supporting pulvinated frieze and dentil cornice, and
above, balustrade, pierced with quatrefoils and lozenges, and corner
pedestals. Round-arched opening. Inner doorway with keyed architrave
interrupted at bases, mid-jambs and corners with jewelled blocks. Above
porch, doorway matching inner doorway below, has frieze with central raised
block, and cornice. On ground and first floors in first, second, fourth and
fifth bays: 3-light double-chamfered mullion-and-transom windows, deeper on
ground floor, with triangular pediments in first and fifth bays, segmental
pediments in second and fourth bays. On second floor, windows with eared
and shouldered architraves, 2-light mullion windows in first and fifth bays,
cross window in third bay. Across the elevation, 3 Flemish gables with
keyed oculi, copings rising from volutes and flanking ball finials. Behind
each gable, a pitched pantile roof. Small single-storey C19 extension set
back to right, of rubble with plinth, quoins to right, small oculus, plain
eaves band, large chimney at right end and pantile roof. Rear: rubble. To
left and right, C20 2-storey flat-roofed extensions flanking, on ground
floor, central 5-light mullion-and-transom window with drip-mould, and on
first floor, 2 cross windows with continuous drip-mould. On second floor,
2-light double-chamfered mullion windows at alternating levels. Westmorland
slate roof with ridge parallel to rear wall. Right (inner) return of rear
wing has blocked central chamfered triangular-headed doorway with hood-
mould, renewed mullion windows with hood-moulds on ground floor, some
original 2-light chamfered mullion windows on first floor, also C19
openings, and pantile roof with stone slates at eaves. Left return: ashlar
with banded rustication. Moulded plinth, stepped down below window to
right, with 2-light basement window, chamfered rusticated quoins. Central
4-panel door in architrave with pulvinated frieze and cornice. Above it,
keyed oculus, and above that a sundial on a raised panel. Flanking, on
ground and first floor, 3-light mullion-and-transom windows with segmental
pediments. On second floor, two 2-light mullion windows in eared and
shouldered architraves. 2 Flemish gables as before. Central ashlar stack,
set back along ridge, between gables. Right return: rubble, with ashlar
plinth and chamfered rusticated quoins. On ground and first floors, 3-light
double-chamfered mullion-and-transom windows with pulvinated friezes and
cornices. On second floor 2 larger keyed oculi, and Flemish gables as
before. Central stack, set back along ridge, between gables. Interior:
entrance hall has large fireplace with elaborately moulded ashlar
architrave. Foliage strip around edge of ceiling. Ground-floor room to
front left: moulded ceiling cornice. Ground-floor room to front right:
ashlar fireplace with classical motifs and Carron cast-iron grate; moulded
ceiling cornice with Greek key motif on frieze. Main open-well staircase
(towards rear on left), rising to second floor, is of richly-carved oak and
has newel posts with panels with foliage drops, pierced pendants and urn
finials and instead of balusters, panels carved with roses, pomegranites,
acanthus-leaf scrolls, and with coat of arms on first landing. Secondary
staircase (towards rear of right) has square newels with ball finials, and
stick balusters. First floor: sitting room in centre front has ashlar
fireplace with deep bolection moulding; good ceiling cornice with foliage
perimeter strip and circular central motif with large acanthus leaves. The
house was built for the Smithsons of Moulton Manor (qv) and the coat of arms
on the staircase commemorates George Smithson's marriage in 1653. On his
death in 1692 the estate was sold by his widow to Sir Mark Milbank of
Halnaby. The Milbank family sold it to pay the dowry when Miss Milbank
married Lord Byron in 1815. The house is shown, with a range of stables and
coach-houses to the north, in an early C18 drawing in Samuel Buck's
Yorkshire Sketchbook (1979) p353. A copy of Edmund Bogg, Richmondshire
(1908), annotated by Mr M Middleton Sanderson of Grange-over-Sands, whose
family owned Moulton Hall, states that it was built c1570, supposedly by
Leonard Smithson, and that according to tradition, James I spent a night
here on his way from Scotland to assume the English throne. However, these
stories may perhaps better be associated with Moulton Manor (qv). VCH i, pp
191-192.
Listing NGR: NZ2345903476
