Situated within a natural basin of the North Yorkshire countryside is a site well connected to its local roots. Located a mile north of the village of Kirkby Fleetham, 1 mile east of the A1(M), you enter and descend down a serpentine driveway towards the hall and are immediately transported back to the Georgian era, as the grand house presents on the right and the church of St Mary then unfolds to the left.
The hall as existing derives from the 18th century (though it does have much earlier origins), when it was largely rebuilt for William Aislabie, MP for Ripon, and for his daughter, Anna Sophia, heiress of Studley Royal, near Ripon. William’s father, John Aislabie—indeed, the two men responsible for turning Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal into the world-renowned water gardens and designed landscape—had purchased the 3000-acre Kirkby estate and manor house owned by the Smelt family for around £20,000 for his son William in anticipation of his impending marriage to Lady Elizabeth Cecil.
John was MP of Ripon and, more importantly, the recently disgraced Chancellor of the Exchequer following the South Sea Bubble and his resultant impeachment, short imprisonment in the Tower and payment of a hefty £45,000 fine. The two set about working their design magic to overhaul the estate as workmen were ferried over from Studley, with records from the 1720s listing expenditure on everything from the replanting of the terrace and the refurbishing of the drive with gazebos to a grand lake, beautiful riverside gardens, an orangery and walled garden.
Upon William’s death, it was his daughter Anna, married to William Lawrence, who was willed the ownership of Kirkby Fleetham Hall and therefore transferred to live there, soon constructing the two wings of the present mansion in c.1781, likely under architect William Lindley of Doncaster. Their daughter, Miss Sophia Elizabeth Lawrence (also known as Elizabeth Sophia), then bequeathed the estate to the Waller family. It subsequently found its way into the hands of Edward Courage of the mighty brewing family in the later 19th century. Ever since, the acreage has reduced through sale after sale, and the hall itself has faced disrepair and then, after refurbishment, functioned as a hotel, country retreat, and private apartments. Today, it is a wedding venue.
Address: Kirkby Hall, Kirkby Fleetham, Northallerton DL7 0SU
Books by Dr Emma Wells
