Description

NY 76 SW PLENMELLER WITH WHITFIELD UNTHANK

3/192 Unthank Hall
10.6.52
GV
II

Country House. C16 origins, remodelled and extended 1815 and 1865 by Dobson,
altered 1900 and reduced in size 1965. Squared stone with ashlar dressings;
west wing rubble with dressings. Slate roofs. 1815 work in plain Classical
style; 1860 extensions free neo-Tudor. Entrance front 2 storeys, 2:1:1:1:2
bays, irregular. Central projecting porch has part-glazed door under 5-pane
overlight in segmental-pointed arch, slit window above; coped gable with moulded
kneelers and finial. Above porch a slit window and eaves corbel table. Flanking
gabled bays with 3-light windows under hoodmoulds. Far right, set-back, 2-bay
1815 section has plinth, 1st floor band and eaves cornice; 12-pane sashes in
architraves,those on 1st floor smaller. Far left, set-back 2-bay section with
varied fenestration including tall cross window to servants' stair; eaves corbel
table. Stepped and corniced stacks to left end and to ridge. Return walls,
that on left twin-gabled, of 1965 rock-faced masonry with re-set sash windows.
Rear (garden) elevation in similar style has wide canted bay of 1815 with altered
sash windows in architraves, the central now a door. Paired sash window to right
and 1st floor cross windows of c,1900.

Interior. 1.2 metre thick wall between stair hall and drawing room is the south
wall of the earlier house. Elaborate fittings and decoration mostly of c.1860.
The mid-Victorian main stair, heavily Classical in style, was brought, along
with other fittings (including the pediments above the dining-room windows),
from Pallion (Sunderland) c.1900. Ornate plaster ceilings in dining room and
stair hall, and frieze in sitting room.

Unthank was a seat of the Ridley family in the C16, and has been claimed by
some as the birthplace of Bishop Ridley the martyr.

Listing NGR: NY7297063014

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Unthank Hall at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7897622

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)