Hellifield Peel

There has been a manor house at Hellifield for over 1000 years. The earliest structure was a Saxon Aisled Hall House, probably erected in about 850AD. The post holes to this building were discovered by Cathy Tuck, our Archaeologist, whilst carrying out excavations on site prior to the restoration work. The next phase in the building history was in the mid-12th Century i.e. about 1150; the existing Saxon Hall House was enclosed in stone. This was a demonstration of wealth by the new lord. The outline of the end gable of this structure can still be seen in the east elevation of the house. This ‘Norman Manor’ house would have looked very similar to Boothby Pagnell Manor in Lincolnshire. In the 1250’s a solar tower was added to this Norman Manor by Elias de Knole. This would have been a small antechamber to the main hall and first floor chamber - the two small rooms are the oldest rooms in the house. The ground floor room shows traces of the vaulting. The upper floor stone barrel vault was rebuilt as part of the restoration.

The main house dates from 1314 to 1330 and was built by one of the last Templar Knights, Sir John Harcourt. This tower would have included what is now the dining room and sitting room, the upper floors of our bedroom and the second floor Chapel, although the original Peel Tower would have had vaulted cellars which were filled in during the 18th Century. The name Peel is a corruption of pale - a safe enclosure which would have been wooden fencing, palisades; to be outside the safe area would have been ‘beyond the pale’.

The ownership of Sir John Harcourt also marks the joint Lordship of Hellifield Peel with suppression of the Knights Templar. Most of the Temple cameras and land passed to the Knights Hospitallers. (Cameras were Templar secular holdings - all of the existing farms became part of a Hospitaller manor). They remained joint lords until the suppression of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in the 1530’s. Hellifield Peel was used as a magistrate’s court until the early 16th Century as a result of the Hospitallers’ Lordship. In the late 14th Century the building of Peel Towers up and down the country has been historically linked to Scottish raiding parties on regular jaunts after the English lost the battle of Bannockburn. Certainly there are records of the Scots raiding Gargrave and Skipton and there was a massacre nearby at Coniston Cold. The Peel Tower is reputed to have seen action but whether this is the case I doubt we shall ever know. There is a suggestion (Sidney Kitson) that the 5 acre lake above the Peel was created by damming up the beck and was designed to flood the valley around the Peel Tower in order to make the tower impregnable. The tower would have been protected additionally with bales of wool to reduce the impact of cannon shot although it must have smelt terrible and would have been a fire hazard. During this period legend has it that a network of tunnels was built - all the usual hyperbole about links with halls miles away . But there is a network of tunnels and no one knows the dates of construction or why they were built.

The Origin of the name Hellifield

The history of Hellifield Peel is intertwined with the Hamerton family who came to be joint lords in the late 14th Century. Laurence Hamerton was granted a licence to add crenellations and Towers in 1441; the towers can still be seen both inside and out, the building construction clearly visible. The Hamertons’ most infamous period was during the northern rebellion and the Pilgrimage of Grace. These involved the Catholic populace rising up to rebel against Henry VIII’s suppression of the church to justify his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and to swell the empty coffers of the King.

Sir Stephen Hamerton rebelled against the King twice; the first time he was pardoned. Objecting to Henry VIII was not the most intelligent action - Sir Stephen was lucky to be let off the first time. The second time he was hung and then beheaded at Tyburn. Incidentally he was betrayed by his uncle, Lord Clifford, who took over as joint Lord from the Hospitallers. All of the Hamerton houses and lands were annexed by the Crown, which when you realize you could ride from Lancaster to York on Hamerton property, must have been worth his uncle betraying him. These lands now form part of the Duke of Devonshire’s estates.

Sir Stephens’s son died of ‘a broken heart’ and his wife and child died within the year, most probably poisoned to remove any complications. The Peel was then annexed by the Crown for nearly 40 years. The building was returned to Hamerton ownership in the 1570’s. This marked the biggest change in the house’s history for 250 years. The Peel Tower was doubled in size by the addition of three levels of major rooms. These are now the kitchen, the drawing room and our bedroom - ‘the square room’. The majority of existing crenellations also date from this period as well as the mullioned windows. The existing Chapel was most probably removed at this stage, the lancet windows being removed and the Piscina blocked up. The Tower would have finally become a home. Huge mullioned windows were constructed on all levels and you can still see the outline of lintels, jambs and cills. The building would most probably have been completely rendered and lime-washed although this is debatable.

From this period the Hamertons had periods of financial difficulties when the Peel was leased and split into two, then three, ownerships in the early 17th Century between 1601 and 1630. In this period ‘James Hamerton Esq’ is recorded as riding out to meet King James I on his procession down to London to claim the throne. Much is made of his wife and sister-in-law so they were probably ‘pretty fit’ as I believe the modern parlance is for such a description. James Hamerton was also reputed to be one of the magistrates at the trial of the Witches of Pendle.

The next period of activity at the Peel was in the late 18th Century. In around the 1780’s the Peel was completely re-modelled with large Georgian windows being introduced. The internal plan would have been greatly altered with the construction of a cantilevered stone staircase. The original spiral stone stairs were ripped out along with many other period features no doubt.

There is a description of the Peel and its interior (perhaps done in the 1860s) by the artist Philip G. Hamerton who was a distant relative of the Hamertons of Hellifield Peel. P.G. Hamerton described an antique panelled ceiling with panelling throughout; Philip was obviously smitten with Hellifield Peel as he wrote a novel about the house and his family seat called Wenderholme. He also sketched the building and described the elderly James Hamerton who introduced the game law repeal, nearly prompting revolution across the country. The Hamerton line finally came to an end with the death of Chisnall Hamerton. Chisnall’s daughter Dorothy leased the peel to Sir William Nicholson who restored the property extensively adding extensions to the existing tower circa 1914. Sir William was also a close friend of the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens who often used to stay at The Peel, designing several buildings whilst in residence. Gledstone Hall, being close by, was one of the projects Lutyens supervised from his residence at The Peel.

Sir William was taken ill in the late 1930’s and moved to live at Ruthin Castle. Shortly after, The Peel was requisitioned by the MOD as a prisoner of war camp for firstly the Italians then German prisoners and after the war a home for the displaced or homeless. In 1948 it was returned to Dorothy Hamerton who sold the estate at auction.

Harry Lund of Otley (whose furniture shop still exists) bought the estate along with the nearby woods and lake. Lund was responsible for stripping out much of the building materials, the roof in particular. Until the 1970s if a property roof was stripped then it would be exempt from rates. Many fine historic houses were deliberately destroyed as a result of this financial loophole. Country houses were for the most part an anathema, representing a bygone age of service and servitude.

Lund held a dilapidation auction at The Peel which is where Tot Lord, a local archaeologist, bought a lot of the existing fabric, selling panelling off to pubs in Settle and a house in Kirkby Malham. Tot has received a lot of unfair criticism for destroying Hellifield Peel but I believe he was trying to salvage the building’s history before it got destroyed by the elements. The estate was bought in 1965 by Florence Hargreaves, passing to her son Nigel who sold the Peel Tower to Karen and Francis Shaw in 2004.

Hellifield Peel - A Medieval Tower House

I have related the above because I think it is important to understand the background of the kind of loonies that would wantonly wish to take on a pile of picturesque hardcore and nearly bankrupt themselves into the bargain, not to mention having it filmed on TV’s Grand Designs. I rediscovered Hellifield Peel, a 14th Century stone tower house, on English Heritage’s buildings at risk register. I was looking for a new home for my family and The Peel seemed perfect - well it would be when “sorted out”.

The stone tower had major structural fault lines through damage wrought through its deliberate dereliction - the building was sold at auction in 1948 and then stripped of its roof, beams, windows, stone door frames, archways, in fact anything that could be taken out. By 2003 the Peel Tower was unstable and its structural integrity was under threat. At the time my engineers, Ward Cole estimated that up to 10 years remained before restoration became unviable.

Notwithstanding all of the above the Peel Tower was classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument by English Heritage; in conservation terms this is the most onerous classification. All changes require formal consent from the DCMS (Department of Media, Culture and Sport). Hellifield Peel was, English Heritage stated, the first Scheduled Ancient Monument to be fully restored back into a private home so clearly the restoration was going to be a test case.

The stone structure has evolved over nearly nine centuries. A problem was to separate each of the additions. The building was difficult to access and evaluate for a detailed conservation plan and structural repairs schedule. Working drawings and a full repairs schedule were required by English Heritage before they would approve the DCMS to give Scheduled Ancient Monument consent. English Heritage and SPAB (The Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings) also had clear ideas on the methodology of the construction process. They wished the building to be consolidated as a ruin and planning was sought for change of use. The North Yorkshire Archaeological Service also wanted a full archaeological survey before works could commence.

Fortunately, I had not bought the ruin at this stage, although the drawings and schedule were done at my risk and the site was cleared to enable an Archaeological Assessment to take place. English Heritage also agreed that the building could be restored and consolidated at the same time. This key compromise was a radical shift for English Heritage. The purity and logic of their proposals were being eroded by my alternative solution, although commercially I knew I could not afford to “double hand” the work.

The clearing of the building led to the revealing of a concrete floor laid down by Sir William Nicholson, so this prevented much more archaeological investigation (although a full digital survey was required).

We bought the ruin in November 2004 a month after the clearing on site had begun. One month later the central spine wall of the tower 12 metres high and 1 metre thick crumbled and filled the whole tower up with rubble again. The failure of the wall had been anticipated in the Health and Safety Plan although being right on this occasion was not good news. This major structural failure changed the whole restoration. The wall was the original Western wall of the 14th Century castle prior to towers being added and further 16th and 18th Century extensions. The character of the restoration would have been shaped by this massive internal wall. The Peel Tower was now an external stone carcass with a new interior -and the budget was about to be blown out of the water - I knew this meant another six months on site at least plus a different method of construction. English Heritage were very helpful firstly by taking a pro-active role in agreeing the use of a mixture of blockwork and stone internally and also fast-tracking all of the alterations. These can take months - English Heritage approved some changes in a couple of days!

The design challenge for The Peel was agreed early on in meetings - “Put the building back to how it was”. This is fine but the building had evolved so much over its 900 year lifespan. The nearly 60 years of dereliction and stone quarrying had robbed The Peel of two 2 storey extensions. Having erected the scaffolding I climbed to the top to assess the view and was immediately convinced I wanted a roof terrace and that I would locate an apartment in what would have been an attic space - which meant additional budget pressure.

English Heritage agreed to this radical proposal for such a sensitive building. This is the most striking addition to the building but maintains the traditional roof outline.

The Works

The conservation ethos was to be guided by historical method, sustainability, and good practice. The repairs were agreed with English Heritage. The massive stone walls being over 2 metres thick in some locations needed a mixture of localised consolidation, rebuilding, grouting, stitching and new and old stone repairs. Each repair was agreed and a methodology agreed. A departure for English Heritage was agreeing to the use of white Portland cement in the grouting mixtures. In damp walls of such mass lime mortars will not harden and integrity cannot be achieved. Their use is possible in dry, warm conditions but in an exposed and constantly wet environment then a “total lime” solution is not viable.

Modern stitching methods were also abandoned. Glue rods and stainless steel rods are not effective in mass rubble walls, and the integrity of this kind of stitch would be tested under localised movement. Stone stitching was preferred and allowed for careful localised rebuilding after making a photographic record.

The main stone used within the building was gritstone locally supplied from quarries near Keighley. The existing gritsone walls had suffered from 100 years of very hard cementitious pointing. A very soft lime pointing mix was used, although the joints were brushed in the English Heritage consolidation method rather than scumbling. Although The Peel had not been pointed in this vernacular method for over 250 years there was a great debate over style. Practicality again took precedence. My concern was over the friableness of the gritstone from the effects of the hard cement mortar. The wet and frosts would have led to the loss of stone surfaces.

The restorations, crenellations, stone window frames, window doors, mullions etc. were based on a series of postcards from 1896 and 1914. These gave sufficient information to set out the crenellations. I took detailed site measurements taking combs of profiles for 16th Century stone window jambs, cills, mullions and transoms. Over 110 tonnes of six-sided stone was cut by the mason Dennis Ulley on site over two years and 150 tonnes of walling stone was used in the repair and consolidation.

There were two types of stone used in the project, the local gritstone and Kirkstone from Leeds, a dense sandstone used in some of the 17th Century alterations and the late 18th Century extensive re-modelling of the elevations. There was also a cantilevered stone stair removed in the late 1940s. The Kirkstone was used for all the new door frames, fireplaces, hearths and archways. English Heritage stated that the interiors should be ‘Country Georgian’ i.e. simple. For the most part simple details have been adopted. The architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was a regular guest at The Peel in the period of Sir William Nicholson’s ownership. This small fact re-kindled my student passion for his work. Lutyens was a master of the fusion of Arts and Crafts and Georgian Architecture. His work is very much in the English tradition of creating gentlemen’s residences, i.e. eccentric, quirky, and charming. I did not want Hellifield to be a pastiche Georgian House or mock Tudorbeathan Castle. I believe the restoration has evolved in an organic way - each space creating a response, each demanding its own language. Within the original tower lime washes have been used extensively, details are spartan, relying on the heavy oak beams, oak floors, and on the ground floor a mixture of salvaged or locally quarried stone was used.

Modern plasters have been used in the attic apartment. Where possible all materials have been locally sourced. Environmental profiling was an important process in the design philosophy. Oak beams procured from France were used as the new construction frame for the structural integrity of the tower. This was because in 2000 the French had a disastrous storm losing nearly half of their mature woodlands. Large swathes of woodlands were logged and stored to season. This provided one of the only sustainable sources of seasoned timber that would span over 6 metres. So far only small shakes from drying and minor shrinkage movement has occurred. The oak for the floors, stairs, doors, skirtings and attic feature window has come from sustainable local sources in the UK.

The sustainability of the rebuild for Hellifield Peel has been at the core of design philosophy. The energy source is via a geothermal heat pump (my wife and I laid over 1 km of pipe), the water source is from a well and sewerage is through a water treatment plant with water tested to Environmental Association standards. Virtually all materials were sourced locally: even the roof slates were a cancelled order from Harrogate. The masons lived on site throughout the build, cutting down travel and adding to the economy of the village. Natural lime mortar, lime plaster and lime and ash screed were use extensively throughout the project, cutting out the use of concrete; even the blocks were pointed with lime mortar. There is extensive usage of ‘super insulation’, a two-skin layer of polystyrene and air encapsulated quilt. The guttering was created on site by the environmentally-conscious Kemper Roofing System from sealed matting therefore eliminating plastics from the building process. The hoppers and downpipes were hand-cast recycled lead.

The most important result of this scheme has been working with craftsmen across all the trades in a very rewarding and traditional manner. This has given the project the character and quality that should be expected in such an historic building.

(Bed and breakfast is now available at Hellifield Peel,
tel. 01729 850248, info@peelcastle.co.uk, www.peelcastle.co.uk. Eds.)