The Summer outing 2014
Either side of Ripon

We met at Low Hall near Dacre for our first visit, to the house of Mr and Mrs Holliday. Mrs Holliday greeted us with tea and coffee and pastries and made us feel most welcome. The house has a 1635 datestone MW standing for Matthew Woods, Gent. It is a splendid seventeenth-century house though, as with most early buildings, it has signs of additions and alterations visible in the masonry. It was hacked about before the present owners came here in the late 1980s but they have made a determined effort to put as much back as was possible to its seventeenth-century form. The inglenook fireplace has unusual decoration at the foot of each side support, in the form of a jug on one side and what might be a clenched or mailed fist on the other. It is an interesting building externally and has internal oak panelling, large fireplaces and a large hall. The gardens were a delight to see, with extensive views over the unspoilt valley. The vegetable garden was full of plants well in advance of those in the Settle area, indicating the more favourable growing conditions in the sheltered plot in this part of Yorkshire.

The party continued to St Mary’s Church in the small elongated village of Wath, north-east of Ripon. There was almost certainly a church here before the Conquest but what is seen now mainly dates from the thirteenth century or later, with the earliest fabric visible in the chancel. A chantry chapel was added in 1332, and this may be the present Norton Chapel on the south side of the nave or what is now the vestry. Above the vestry there is a Priest’s chamber entered via a spiral stone staircase. The nave was substantially reworked in the fifteenth century, with the south transept being added, and with its earlier aisle-less form being preserved. The tower was rebuilt in 1812, and the entire church was ‘restored’ in 1873. It is an interesting church in its own right but the Norton Chapel is of particular interest, with monuments and grave slabs from the fourteenth century onwards. There is also a fine oak chest of c.1330 in the Sanctuary.

The final visit of the day was to Norton Conyers house and gardens just south of Wath. This is the private home of Sir James and Lady Graham, who welcomed us after a tour of the extensive walled garden, where we were accompanied by the staff. The gardens are eighteenth-century in design with huge yew protective hedges separating sections of the site. The peaches in the Orangery and the medlar trees were of particular note. Sir James and his wife gave us a talk about the house and its history, illustrated by the paintings of their forebears, including the Nortons and the Conyers, on the walls of the entrance hall. They also recounted the troubles with death-watch beetle (with dead specimens to inspect) and told us of the archaeological dig and early pottery finds under the main floorboards. This impressive house has been closed to the public for the past two years for major repairs, which are ongoing. Enough was said and seen to frighten most people thinking of restoring an old house.

At its core this is a fourteenth-century building but most of the present house is of either Stuart or Georgian age. The manor was held by the Norton family until they came to grief after rebelling against the Crown in the Rising of the North in 1569, and father and son met a grisly end. The estate was forfeited and sold to Sir Richard Musgrave in 1593, but it was sold again to Sir Richard Graham three decades later. The Graham family has held it ever since, apart from 1862-82.

The house has Dutch-style gables, eighteenth-century plaster ceilings, fine furniture and portraiture. The Grahams were strong Royalists and both Charles I and James II stayed here. Norton Conyers is also associated with Charlotte Brontė who stayed here in 1839, and it is said (!) that the house was the inspiration for her Thornfield Hall in Jane Eyre. Apparently (!) there was a mad woman in the attic when Charlotte stayed there, so is this where Mrs Rochester was ‘born’? The odd narrow twisted staircase leading up into the attic from the main staircase first floor and the attic room seemed to fit the bill well enough. The attic rooms were somewhat decayed and were labelled with their functions as far as could be recalled - maids room, visiting chauffeur room, nursery, etc. Other stories of the house were told to us by our hosts, sometimes to be taken with a pinch of salt, but the whole time spent there was much enlivened by the hospitable nature of Sir James and his wife, to whom we were most grateful for letting us see their interesting house.

The party expressed its thanks to our hosts and also to David for organizing yet another delightful day out in excellent weather.

MJS