| Description | Site of Howley Hall, with surrounding gardens, bowling green and orchards. Constructed between 1585 and 1590 by Sir John Savile, with additions in the mid 17th century. The hall was demolished in 1730 at the behest of the 3rd Earl of Cardigan. Precise location and form of Hall is known. Detailed earthwork survey has been carried out in the area surrounding the Hall by S. Ainsworth in 1989, revealing features which correspond with the elements of the 17th century garden, a factor which substantially increases the archaeological interest of the site. Located c.175 m to the SE of the probable site of the medieval hall (PRN 3793). See also PRN 3992 area of former park within which Hall stood.
Site visit (by B.Y., J.M., guided by S.Ainsworth) demonstrated just how important this site is; the garden remains are extensive and detailed and because of their short life (and their demise prior to the major landscaping changes of the 18th century), constitute a set of 16th 17th garden earthworks which is probably on a par with the best anywhere elsewhere in the country.
The site was scheduled in 1997; area around the scheduled boundary (to a distance of approx. 200m) now marked as as a Class II site (i.e. potentially archaeologically sensitive) to cover for the possibility of finds associated both with the siege of Howley Hall in 1643 and the use of the Hall as the base for Newcastle's army of approx. 10,000 men immediately prior to the battle of Adwalton Moor. (see Cooke).
The remains of Howley Hall are protected as a scheduled monument. Below is English Heritage’s scheduling description for the site:
Ruins and below ground remains of 16th century Howley Hall and the earthwork remains of its associated gardens.
The earthworks which represent the site of the house today stand to a height of about 2.5m and indicate that the house was approximately 56m square based around a central courtyard 25m square. Projecting corners are also evident. Entrances in the west and north ranges (about 7m wide) would have provided access into the central courtyard. The principal entrance in the west range projects from the facade and aligns exactly on the remains of the gatehouse situated approximately 75m to the west. There is no evidence from the visible earthworks of any ground level access to the courtyard from the other ranges.
The most immediately obvious remnant of the house is the standing fabric at the east of the south range, although numerous wall lines and cellars do survive elsewhere, particularly along the east range. Along the west range a cant in the wall line of the exterior facade, exaggerated by a bulge in the earthworks centrally between the passageway and the north west corner, marks the probable site of a projecting window bay.
The remains of the gatehouse to the west are visible as a rectangular mound. The gatehouse was rectangular in plan, measuring approximately 9m north to south by 6.5m, with a central passageway.
To the west of the gatehouse, a flat compartment measuring 55m north to south by 30m forms a forecourt. Centrally placed along the west side of the forecourt is a sloping break which marks the site of steps which lead up from the forecourt to a well defined, raised rectangular level area measuring 52m north to south by 64m. This is the site of a bowling green which is marked on a plan dated to 1735 and indicated on the Tithe Award of 1843. Sections of a slightly raised terrace 5m in width are evident around the periphery. The bowling green is raised 1.5m above the level of the forecourt. |