Description

SE44NW THORP ARCH THORP ARCH PARK
LS23

2/119 Thorp Arch Hall
30.3.66 including East Wing and
West Wing (formerly
listed as part of Thorp
Arch Hall and Stable
Wings)

GV II*

Large house now 3 dwellings. 1750-54 by John Carr for William Gossip (Thorp
Arch estate papers, Leeds City Archives). Ashlar magnesian limestone, Welsh
slate roofs. 2-storey-and-attic, 5-bay double-pile house flanked by 2-
storey, 3-bay side wings set back and under separate roofs. Main house:
plinth, rusticated quoins; nosed stone steps to central glazed double-door
and 3-pane overlight in C20 facsimile cast-concrete surround having
architrave, pulvinated frieze and pediment on carved consoles. Other bays
have sill band interrupted by lowered windows with unequally-hung 21-pane
sashes in C20 facsimile architraved surrounds with pulvinated friezes and
cornices. 1st floor: projecting sills and renewed architraves to sashes with
glazing bars. Eaves cornice to hipped roof with ashlar end stacks and 2 sky-
light windows. Wing set back on left (West Wing): large quoins; sashes with
glazing bars beneath 9-pane casements, all having flush sills and deep
lintels; eaves band to pyramidal roof with end stack on left. A 1-storey
addition on left has part-glazed door on right of a blind 2-light mullioned
window. Wing set back on right (East Wing) is similar; to its right is a
screen wall with round-arched doorway. Rear of main house has steps to
central 6-panel door and fanlight flanked by 8-pane sashes in Venetian style;
tripartite window to ist floor otherwise sashes with glazing bars. Wings
each have a blocked segmental archway now with later windows and doors
beneath.
Interior transverse hall with differing wooden staircase at each end having
turned balusters, column newels and wreathed and ramped handrails; hall
doorways have plain architraves under renewed friezes and cornices. Ground-
floor room to front right: enriched 6-panel doors with acorn friezes and
carved cornices; enriched skirting and dado rail; wooden fireplace with shell
and acanthus motifs on frieze, overmantel with shouldered and eared
architrave; plaster panels to walls and ceiling, dentilled cornice, floral
ceiling motifs in Rococo style. Rear-right room: plainer doorcase; panelled
dado; wooden fireplace with side scrolls and floral panel on carved frieze
beneath overmantel with Greek fret ornament, drops and broken pediment;
modillioned ceiling cornice. Front-left room: doorcase has carved architrave
and planted carvings on frieze; resited wooden fire surround. Rear lobby:
round-arched display cabinet with eared architrave; doorway into hall has
eared architrave, pulvinated frieze and cornice. 1st floor: landing
doorcases have architraves, pulvinated friezes and cornices; half-round stair
windows at each end, that to right return with old glazing bars and glass;
panelled plaster ceiling. Contemporary fire surrounds to the rooms on right.
William Gossip of Skelton, near York, intended to build "a house of 5 windows
and 4 rooms on a floor with the offices and stables in the wings" on his
estate at Thorp Arch. On recommendation of Sir Rowland Winn of Nostell
Priory he contacted James Paine who, despite engaging in some correspondence,
was too busy to finalise a plan. On 8th August 1749 Gossip wrote to John and
Robert Carr and by 15th August Mr. Carr "brought finished plans". A lengthy
account tracks the building from 1750 until its completion in 1754; John
Carr's account being settled in April 1756.
Thorp Arch estate papers, Leeds City Archives [particularly Day Book 1749-51
(box 21/item 10) which notes the visits to Thorp Arch by Mr. Carr].

Listing NGR: SE4295946284

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533170

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)