Grassington Hall

Grassington Hall is a historic building in Grassington, a town in North Yorkshire, in England. The manor house was probably built in the 1280s for Robert de Plumpton. From that period survives what is now the north-east range, including several of the original windows. It is sometimes held to be the oldest inhabited house in the Yorkshire Dales. In the 17th century, George Lister and the Topham family rebuilt part of the hall, and added a new wing to the southwest. Around 1800, the first floor rooms were partitioned. The hall was restored in about 1870 for the Duke of Devonshire, to serve as accommodation and offices for his lead agent, work including a new roof and main staircase. It was again restored in 1980, with work including lower extensions to the left and right. The building was grade II* listed in 1954. The house is built of gritstone, with quoins, and a stone slate roof with bulbous kneelers, gable copings and ball finials. It has two storeys and attics, two parallel ranges, and fronts of two and three bays. Most of the windows are mullioned with hood moulds, although in the Mediaeval hall there is also a paired lancet windows. In the left bay of the main front is a two-storey porch containing a pointed arch with a chamfered surround and quoined jambs. The southwest facade has a doorway from 1870, in the Tudor style. Inside, there is a 17th-century fireplace, narrowed in the 18th century. The northeast section includes a first floor hall with an undercroft.