Description

ELLAND ROCHDALE ROAD (OFF)
ilfl 091214 (north aide)

1/84 Clay House
24.1.68
II*

House now used as a museum, clinic, meeting hall and flat. C1650 for John Clay.
Dressed stone to south front with finer ashlar to return wall of east wing and
hammer-dressed to return wall of west wing and rear. Stone slate roof. Of unusual
plan; it has a 4-roomed front with 4 identical gables; there are 2 entrances mullioned
and transomed windows with king-mullion to both floors of 16 lights except the thin
bay which has 26-light window to main hall or housebody, with 20-light window over.
Cross windows over each doorway which have cambered dripmoulds with circular stops and
shaped architraves with decorated lintels. All gables have stepped attic window of
3 lights with arched heads, copings and finial to apex. Continuous round building is
a weathered plinth and string course, with cavetto section, over ground floor windows.
First floor windows have hoodmoulds over with heart shaped stops to the front range
and circles to the rear. Rear has 4 gables with kneelers surmounted by ball finial.
and some double chamfered mullioned windows. At the north-east corner of the house is
the kitchen; this has a large gable stack, and a drain spout projects from the east
will at floor level. Several other stacks, but main hall stack runs on horizontal
ridge parallel with south front at junction of third bay with east wing on a line with
main entry door which leads straight into much altered hall, c.1873.

Interior: Hall is lit by windows on both south and north and is open to first floor
with gallery on 3 1/2 sides approached by a stair which is close strung with turned
balusters and a moulded band-rail. Large fireplace which has depressed arch, moulded
jambs and lintel with spiral termination. Hall retains some original doors of 2 panels
with round heads and ogee heads. Stone reset reads 'IMC 1661', Hall window has painted
panel with clay coat of arms and 'IMC 1675'. Etched in glass are the lines:-

'Where e'er she treads the blushing Flowrs shall rise
and all things prosper where she turns her Eyes.'

The house originally may have been designed as two dwellings. John Clay dies in 1654
leaving to Margaret, his son's widow £10 a year and the east end of the 'newly builded
house'. Hunter, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol. 2 (1873) P.129. L. Ambler,
'The Old Halls and Manor Houses of Yorkshire' (London 1913) p.22, 89. No Pevsner,
'Yorkshire West Riding' (1979) p.626, A.T. Longbotham, H.A.S. (1934). A. Comfort
'Ancient Halls in and about Halifax' (1912), 4.

Listing NGR: SE0974821445

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17542255

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)