Dowsby Hall

The land on which the house stands was acquired by Thomas Rigdon of Chartham in Kent when he married Anne heiress of Anthony Villiers, whose mother had been a member of the Roos family, who had lived in Dowsby for eight generations. It the passed to his son Sir William Rigdon who died in 1610. At this point the property was purchased by Richard Burrell, a citizen and grocer of London. It is not clear if Sir William had started building the hall at this time or if the hall was built for Richard Burrell. An altered rainwater head, dated 1630, might even indicate that the building could be that late. The Dowsby Hall remained in Burrell ownership into the 18th. century and passed by marriage to…

The front of the house is in limestone-based ashlar on the east facade and the rebuilt south face, while the north and west sides are in coursed Rubble masonry. The source of the limestone is likely to be from the Ancaster stone or Heydour quarries. A three-storey house double pile house, with ridge roofs with stone coped gables, crowned with small knopped obelisks. Four chimney stacks in central valley between roofs, one with 3 tall angle shafts, the other 3 with tall paired angle shafts. Rainwater head or Launder box dated 1630 drains the gulley between the parallel ridges on the north side. Four southern bays of the original seven bay east front demolished in the late 18th century…