Forcett Hall
Forcett Hall is a country house in the village of Forcett, North Yorkshire, England, some 6.5 miles (10 km) west of Darlington. It is a Grade I listed building. [1]
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. The building has three floors and a basement and 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.[2]
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, 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.[3]
History
Forcett had been in the possession of the Shuttleworth family of Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire since 1582 when Richard Shuttleworth, MP had the house rebuilt in 1740, vacating the family seat at Gawthorpe to move in. It passed to his son James, MP for Preston and Lancashire and High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1760–61. James' son Robert inherited the property on his father's death in 1773 but sold it in 1784.[4] His son Robert moved back to live at Gawthorpe.
Robert, let Forcett Hall to Lord Algernon Percy (First Earl of Beverley) 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 and has remained within the same family's ownership ever since.
It has been the home of the Heathcote family since 1938 and is currently managed by James and Alison Heathcote, providing hospitality for special and corporate events.[5]
In 2011 the property was on the market with an asking price of £5.5 million.[2]
References
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