Longley New Hall

Details

919/0/10060
08-JUN-04

DOG KENNEL BANK
Lowerhouses
Longley New Hall

II

House, now school, completed 1870 for the Ramsden family, by William Henry Crossland. Dressed coursed sandstone from local quarries with ashlar quoins and dressings, under blue slate roofs in diminishing courses. The house faces NE-SW, with the entrance on the NE facade and a multiplicity of roof lines and gables. All the windows are sash windows with stone mullions and hood and drip mouldings above. Several of the downpipes have decorative carved stone brackets.
NE facade: two storeys plus attic floor, five bays with single storey extension to left. Projecting entrance portico has semi-circular arch with ashlar reveals and Ramsden coat of arms in the corners, two-light window to the right, with two similar windows above this and the entrance, and small circular window with decorative surround in the gable. To the left, ground floor has a four-light window with a three-light stepped sash above and a carved coat of arms in the apex of the gable. The gable has a projecting kneeler to the left topped with a bell finial. To the left of this bay is a single storey contemporary extension with a single light and a four-light window and castellated parapet all round its hipped roof. To the right of the entrance a large castellated staircase window curves outwards to meet the two projecting right hand bays which are gabled and have matching three-light windows to ground and first floors and two-light windows in the attic floor. These two bays are significantly higher than the rest and have small slit openings near the top of the gable. The outer corners have projecting kneelers topped with a ball finial. SW facade: The left hand bay is an exact copy of its other end to the front. The next has a large two-storey projection with a conical roof containing three, three-light windows on each floor, those on the ground floor having a transom near the top. The central bay is recessed and has a square-headed door with rectangular fanlight and a single light window, and two single-light windows above, under a hipped roof. The two bays to the right project, the first slightly more than the second, but are otherwise identical. They each have a four-light window to the ground floor and a three-light stepped window above. The steeply sloping gables have a small cross-shaped window near the apex and projecting kneelers. The single storey bay has a two-light window. NW facade: three gabled bays, that to right and left the same as the two right hand bays to the front, the central bay having a canted two storey projection with three large single-light windows on each floor with a continuous dripmoulding, and a castellated parapet at the top.
INTERIOR: The portico with original wide oak door leads into a lobby with black and white tiled floor and an etched glass panelled screen to the main entrance hall. This has a wooden balustered staircase curving past the large stair window, and an original stone fireplace with a tall carved wooden overmantel with the Ramsden family initials. A number of original doors lead off, to principal rooms on the NW and service quarters to the SE. Large room with wide bay window to SW elevation has Jacobean style moulded ceiling. The room at the west corner has a blocked stone fireplace, and a number of marble and tile fireplaces survive in several first floor rooms. One of these, which has been moved from its original site in the nursery to an adjoining room, has two circular enamelled panels depicting childhood scenes, in a cast iron surround. Another has Minton tiles in a plain marble surround. Several of the principal rooms on ground and first floor also feature moulded ceilings, and original doors and doorcases survive throughout. The service end of the house is very plain, with a second staircase leading to first floor rooms partly under the eaves. Double height skirting boards and distinctive cast iron radiators are also features of interest.
A wall leads from the corner of the inner tall bay at the front to enclose the north-west side of the house, with a semi-circular bastion at north and west corners.
A detached stable block to the north-east is said to be by E Blore is in coursed dressed sandstone in a plain gothic style, but has lost its internal features and has been reroofed in concrete tiles.
The hall was built to replace a Tudor building on the same site, commissioned by Sir John William Ramsden, 5th baronet. William Henry Crossland was closely associated with the family who owned the manor of Huddersfield. The house was sold in 1920 to the Huddersfield Corporation and in 1924 a girls school was opened in the building. This was replaced by a special school in 1959 which uses the hall as part of its premises.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

491936

Legacy System:

LBS

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