Forcett Hall, Forcett Park (geograph 4463332)

Forcett Hall is an

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 ...

in the village of

Forcett Forcett is a village in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies near the border with County Durham, on the B6274 road about 8 miles south of Staindrop. Nearby villages include Eppleby, Caldwell and Aldbrough. History ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England, some west of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

Forcett had been in the possession of the Shuttleworth family of

Gawthorpe Hall Gawthorpe Hall is an Elizabethan country house on the banks of the River Calder, in Ightenhill, a civil parish in the Borough of Burnley, Lancashire, England. Its estate extends into Padiham, with the Stockbridge Drive entrance situated there. ...

, Lancashire since 1582. Forcett Hall was originally an Elizabethan house, modified in 1710 by William Benson. After a fire in 1726 it was substantially redesigned in 1740 in the Palladian style by architect

Daniel Garrett Daniel Garrett (died 1753) was a British architect who worked on the Burlington Estate, Culloden Tower, Raby Castle, and Banqueting House. History Garrett started as a clerk of works, then in 1735 set up his own practice in the North of England ...

under Richard Shuttleworth, MP, vacating the family seat at Gawthorpe to move in. It passed to his son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, MP for Preston and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere ...

for 1760–61. James' son Robert inherited the property on his father's death in 1773 but sold it in 1784. His son Robert moved back to live at Gawthorpe. Robert, let Forcett Hall to

Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley FSA (21 January 1750 – 21 October 1830), styled Lord Algernon Percy between 1766 and 1786 and known as the Lord Lovaine between 1786 and 1790, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 17 ...

, who remained in occupation when Robert Shuttleworth sold the Forcett Hall Estate in 1785 to Frances Michell and her son, Charles Michell. Forcett Hall passed by descent until 1938 when it was bought by Lieutenant Colonel Hardress Waller. It acted as family home to the Heathcote family from 1938 to 2020, managed by James and Alison Heathcote, who provided hospitality for special and corporate events. In 2011, the property was placed on the market with an asking price of £5.5 million. The house featured in 2016 in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series ''

Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners ''Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners'' is a Channel 4 television series about people with obsessive–compulsive disorder, narrated by John Thomson. The first series ran from February to March 2013, the second from October to December 2013, the third ...

''. The price was lowered to £4 million, and according to the listing, is in need of some refurbishment. In 2021 the hall was acquired by property developer Karen Stephenson.

Architecture

The building has three floors, and a basement with four main reception rooms, 15 bedrooms and a self-contained east wing with three further bedrooms. It is approached through an arched carriageway with four Roman Doric columns and a Doric frieze. Nearby are Grade II listed north and south lodges.

Park

It stands in 85 hectares of parkland which contains several listed buildings including a grotto incorporating an ice house and mount, a wilderness garden, the Stanwick Late Iron Age

Oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

, and a large collection of veteran and rare trees, including one of the largest cedar trees in the country. The park is on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

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 ...

of 1740, designed by Garnett.

References

{{coord, 54, 30, 23, N, 1, 44, 9, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in North Yorkshire Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire Grade I listed houses Houses completed in 1710 1710 establishments in England