Moreby Hall is a Grade II*-listed early 19th-century

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

and estate in Stillingfleet,

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on the River Ouse. The manor was designed by 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 h ...

for Henry Preston, the Sheriff of Yorkshire, in 1828.

History

Moreby Hall and its park lies on previously populated village called Moreby or Moorby, the Scandinavian word for "farmstead on the marsh." Moreby Hall 1907

A 1907 profile on Moreby Hall in '' Country Life'' magazine states that, "The township anciently contained two

carucate The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...

s of land held of the King in capite by knight's service and a sixpenny rent severally. Now we read the quaint record that Moreby is held of the Crown by the service of rendering a red rose when the Sheriff may demand it." A family at this time took its name from the village; a knight, Sir Robert de Moreby, appears on the records (d. 1335). His ancestor, also Sir Robert de Moreby, had a daughter who married Sir William Acclom (or Acklam) in the 15th century. The Accloms then took up residence at the original Moreby Hall. Stillingfleet's church, St Helen's, includes a memorial to John Acclom of Moreby (d. 1611), and of his wife, Isabel. The church has a section called Moreby Chapel, the burial site for the de Moreby family, dating to the era of Edward III. The house was next owned by the Lawson family. Reverend George Lawson, was succeeded in turn by his son, also George Lawson, who in 1636 married the daughter of Marmaduke Boswell. Their son, Marmaduke Lawson, had two sons, but no grandchildren. Marmaduke's wife, Susannah, was the daughter of John Preston, the Mayor of Leeds in 1692. The estate then passed to Susannah's nephew, Thomas Preston, who in turned passed it to his nephew, Henry Preston (1779-1857).

Current hall

In 1814, Henry Preston married Maria, the eldest daughter of Joshua Compton of Esholt Hall in Yorkshire. Preston, the

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 o ...

, commissioned architect

to build a new manor in 1828. The cost of the construction, completed in 1832, was £40,000 (). Moreby Hall was Salvin's second major country house in the Tudor style, which

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

notes is "highly accomplished work for one not yet thirty." Moreby was constructed of sandstone ashlar with a roof of

Welsh slate The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the l ...

. The interior of the house features a dining room with a

coffered ceiling A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, als ...

and a Jacobethan marble fireplace. Chinese bird wallpaper, , still hangs on the walls of the

drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...

. In his 1872 book, ''A History of the Gothic Revival'', Sir Charles Eastlake called Moreby Hall an early example of “a gradual return to the manorial Gothic of old English mansions.” The terraced gardens slope down towards the River Ouse. Moreby Hall was listed Grade II* in 1966.

Ownership

The Preston family still owned Moreby Hall until the 20th century. Moreby Hall sits on 12.3 acres (4.97 ha) of land. It was put on the market for £2.8 million in 2014.

References

External links

{{commons category, Moreby Hall
Moreby Hall
at British Listed Buildings

official hotel website Country houses in North Yorkshire Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire Anthony Salvin