Otterington Hall peeking out from behind the trees - geograph

Otterington Hall is a

Grade II listed 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 ...

mansion in

South Otterington South Otterington is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the A167 road south of Northallerton and on the east bank of the River Wiske. History ''Otterinctune'' in the ''Allerto ...

, near

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

, North Yorkshire, England. Otterington Hall lies in

, three miles south of Northallerton, on the

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

. One of the earlier occupants, from before 1831 until his death in 1837, was Captain John George Boss (1781–1837) R.N. He had a distinguished naval career, being involved in the capture of several French vessels and the protection of British trading interests in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He was presented with a silver-gilt cup in 1812 with the following inscription: "''Presented to JOHN GEORGE BOSS ESQR. Captain of his B. Majesty's Sloop RHODIAN, For his Zeal and Valor in the destruction of Two French Privateers & defending a Convoy From ST JAGO DE CUBA to HENEAGA, Diego, Monga, Pasqual Privintos, Pedro Blanco Carariego, June 28th 1812''". The cup was recently sold at

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

for over £40,000. He was a Member of Parliament for the Northallerton constituency (1832–1835) and he gained the rank of captain in November 1833. He married twice: Charlotte Robinson (née Pennyman) in 1814, who died in 1832 aged 56, and Elizabeth Wylie in 1834. Otterington Hall was the birthplace of British anti-fascist, linguist, and photographer,

Alec Wainman Alexander Wheeler Wainman (1913-1989) was a British photographer, Quaker, and Slavonic Scholar at the University of British Columbia. He is most known for his work as a frontline medical volunteer for the Republican government and anti-fascist fo ...

. It was home to the Furness family for many years, and they were responsible for planting much of its topiary gardens from the 1920s onwards, "one of the best topiary gardens in England and certainly the best in Yorkshire". It has been home to Andy Preston, the

Mayor of Middlesbrough The Mayor of Middlesbrough is the executive mayor of the borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. The incumbent since 2019 is Andy Preston. Referendums 2001 2013 Election results 2002 2007 2011 201 ...

and a former hedge fund manager, and his wife since at least 2007. In 2015, Preston was criticised for using his parents' Middlesbrough address on his nomination papers, rather than that of his actual home, but he denied breaking election rules. The Hall was listed for sale with Savills in 2023, at an asking price of £4,000,000.

References

Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire Country houses in North Yorkshire Grade II listed houses {{UK-struct-stub