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Birdsall House
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English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

Birdsall, North Yorkshire Birdsall is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 180, increasing to 343 at the ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The house dates from the late 16th century but was remodelled in 1749 with addition of second storey (third floor) to the main range. A wing was added in 1776 and a matching right wing added in 1872. It is constructed in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

with Welsh slate roofs. The central range is a 3-storey, 5-bay building connected to outlying 2-storey 2-bay side wings by single cell units. The house was the first house in England to benefit from a private gas system.

History

The site of the house and its parkland was a monastery estate prior to the Dissolution of the Monasteries by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and the original Tudor house was built for the Sotheby family. After Elizabeth Sotherby married Thomas Willoughby the couple converted the house into the larger Georgian style house of today. The estate duly passed into the ownership of the Willoughby family, passing first to Thomas' son

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, who afterwards inherited from his cousin the title of 5th Baron Middleton, together with other estates at Middleton and

Wollaton Park Wollaton Park is a 500 acre park in Nottingham, England, which includes a deer park. It is centred on Wollaton Hall, a classic Elizabethan prodigy house which contains the Nottingham Natural History Museum, with the Nottingham Industrial Museum ...

, where he actually chose to live. The 8th Baron Middleton, however, chose to live at Birdsall, employing the architect

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country ho ...

to extend the house and eventually dying there in 1877. His son, the 9th Baron likewise preferred Birdsall and likewise died there in 1922. In 1923 the family sold the Middleton and Wollaton estates and thus made Birdsall the sole family seat, which it has remained ever since.

References

{{reflist Country houses in North Yorkshire Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire