Leyburn Town Hall

Leyburn Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England. The structure, which is used for retail purposes and as an events venue, is a grade II listed building.

1. History

The first municipal building in Leyburn was a tollbooth in the Market Place; it was primarily used for the collection of market rents and dated back to the grant of a charter for a fortnightly fair by King Charles II to the lord of the manor, the 6th Marquess of Winchester, in 1684. By the mid-19th century the tollbooth had become somewhat antiquated, and the then lord of the manor, the 3rd Lord Bolton of Bolton Castle, decided to rebuild the structure. Construction work on the new building started in 1856. It was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £2,000 and was completed in 1857. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the Market Place; the central bay featured a doorway flanked by brackets supporting a cornice. The other bays on the ground floor and all the bays on the first floor were fenestrated by sash windows and, at roof level, there was a deep parapet. Internally, the principal rooms were the assembly room on the first floor, which was used for petty session hearings, and the magistrates' office; there were also two flats, each with a living room and a bedroom. In the late 19th century, large social events were regularly held in the assembly hall; such events included a series of annual balls organised by the local company of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment in the late 1880s. A memorial in the form of a celtic cross, commissioned to commemorate the lives of local service personnel who had died in the First World War, was erected outside the town hall in 1920 and, during the Second World War, the 11th Battalion of the North Riding Home Guard established a shooting range inside the building. Although the ground floor was converted to retail use and was occupied by a local homewares business, Wray & Co., in the 1970s, the assembly room continued to be made available for community events: the Wensleydale School held a debate, which was attended by the future Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, there in September 2018.

1. See also

Listed buildings in Leyburn

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

Leyburn Hall

Leyburn Hall is a historic building in Leyburn, a town in North Yorkshire, in England. The hall was built in about 1750, for John Yarker, although it is possible that it may retain some material from a 17th century forerunner. A Catholic chapel is supposed to have stood nearby, and it is possible that this may have been in the west pavilion. The house was grade II* listed in 1967. The house is roughcast, and has stone dressings, a stone slate roof, two storeys and an E-shaped plan. The south front has a central five-bay block on a plinth, with rusticated quoins, a string course, a moulded cornice, and a blind parapet. The windows are sashes with moulded surrounds, the central ground floor window with an eared architrave and a cornice on consoles. The block is flanked by single-bay links containing openings with quoined surrounds. At the ends are pedimented pavilions with quoins, each containing a full-height round-arched opening with a moulded surround, and containing a tripartite window with Doric half-columns, and a Diocletian window above. On the top is a wrought iron weathervane. The north front has seven bays, a central Doric portico, and Venetian windows. Inside, there is a grand staircase hall with a plasterwork ceiling which may have been designed by Giuseppe Cortese. The Morning Room has early panelling, and both it and the Drawing Room have high-quality doorcases and cornices.

Historic Site Landmark

Leyburn

Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley' or 'Le' (clearing), and 'burn' (stream), meaning clearing by the stream. Leyburn had a population of 1,844 at the 2001 census increasing to 2,183 at the 2011 Census. The estimated population in 2015 was 2,190.

Landmark

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Leyburn

St Peter and St Paul's Church is a Catholic church in Leyburn, a town in North Yorkshire, in England. The church and adjoining presbytery and stable with schoolroom above were built in 1835 by Chapleo and Sons. The work cost about £2,000, and the building is in the Gothick style. The school closed in the early 1870s, although a new Catholic school was built just to the south in 1895. The sanctuary was reordered in the late 20th century, and the east window was restored in 2010. The church and presbytery were separately grade II listed in 1986, and the church was upgraded to grade II* in 2016. The church is built of sandstone on a plinth, with limestone dressings, rusticated quoins, an eaves string course, and a stone slate roof. The southeast gable has moulded coping and a Latin cross, and the other gable has a bellcote and a ball finial. The doorway and the windows have chamfered surrounds, round-arched heads and hood moulds, and the windows have Y-tracery. Inside the church are box pews and a west gallery. The presbytery is built of limestone with sandstone dressings, quoins, and a Welsh slate roof with a coped gable. It has two storeys and three bays, and a rear extension. The central doorway has a semicircular fanlight, and is set in a round-headed arch with imposts and a keystone. At the rear of the presbytery is the former stable and schoolroom containing a basket-arched cart opening. External steps lead up to the schoolroom. The boundary is enclosed by stone walls, and the entrance drive to the church has cast iron railings and a gate.

Church Landmark

Thornborough Hall

Thornborough Hall is a historic building in Leyburn, a town in North Yorkshire, in England. The house was built in the mid 18th century, perhaps as early as 1720, and was originally known as "Leyburn Grove". It was partly rebuilt and given a new front in 1863, the new design being by Joseph Hansom. In the 20th century, it was sold to Richmondshire District Council, and was converted to house a council chamber, magistrates' court, register office and council offices. In 2001, it was purchased by Leyburn Town Council to use as its headquarters, maintaining the register office and adding the town library and further offices. The three-storey building is constructed of stone, and is Jacobean style at the front, while the original Georgian style is visible at the rear. There are several folly buildings in the grounds, including Leyburn Sham Castle.

Government Historic Site