ONE OF LEEDS OLDEST HOMES FOR SALE FOR FIRST TIME IN 425 YEARS

A 17th century Grade II* Listed Manor House in Rawdon, that is full of character and surrounded by mature gardens and woodland, is for sale for the first time in approximately 425 years and has the potential to become a spectacular family home. 

Rawdon Hall, on Low Green, was built in the late 1500s by George Rawdon, and the substantial house covers approximately 6,400 sq ft. in 3.86 acres of grounds. 
The ground floor offers a stunning central reception hall with galleried staircase and stained-glass windows, family room, morning room, living room, dining room, study, dining kitchen, breakfast room, utility room and pantry. 

On the first floor there are five double bedrooms, a house bathroom, shower room and WC, with a pair of double bedrooms on the second floor. There is also a large basement area and separate two storey coach house. 

Period details from the property’s long and varied history include delightful stone fireplaces, a supposed priest hole, extensive oak panelling and even a stone frieze, reputedly from Kirkstall Abbey.

Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, said: “Rawdon Hall is a very rare gem that is steeped in history, but a new dawn beckons, and it now offers an exciting opportunity to create a stunning and vibrant family home against a fascinating back story. 

“The property enjoys a semi-rural location but is still within seven miles of Leeds and Bradford, just three miles from Leeds Bradford Airport, and there are rail services nearby at Apperley Bridge, so it will appeal to buyers across West Yorkshire and beyond.”

The property’s current owner, Nick Snowden, inherited the house in 1978 and lives near Bristol. He said: “Rawdon Hall is full of history. It was built by my distant ancestor, George Rawdon, and used as a centre of dissenting worship, complete with priest holes to protect non-conformists and a look-out window, prior to him heading to London where he served Viscount Conway. Later he moved to Ireland and entrusted the running of the property to his family.

“The house was then rented out for several centuries to an array of residents that included several wealthy wool and coal merchants of Yorkshire. Charlotte Bronte visited in 1841 and potentially wrote of her time at the fictional ‘Thornfield Hall’ and the house was requisitioned by the Army during the Second World War and Field Marshal Montgomery is recorded as holding a D-Day rally at the Hall.

“It’s a beautiful house and although it’s hard to consider selling it, I live and work in another part of the country, and it now deserves a new family who can make it their own and start a new chapter in its story.” 

Rawdon Hall has a guide price of £1.25million and further information is available by calling Dacres Ilkley on 01943 600655 or clicking here.