Knapton Hall

Magnificent North Yorkshire country house in a parkland setting with an extensive range of outbuildings.

Principal house: reception hall, 5 reception rooms, kitchen, domestic offices, 5 bedrooms (4 with en suite bathrooms and 2 with dressing rooms), extensive vaulted cellars with wine cellar and stores, second floor attic rooms and storage

Flat 1/attached annexe: 3 reception rooms, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, domestic offices

Flat 2/separate cottage (requires renovation): reception room, 4 bedrooms, bathroom

Outbuildings: church, garages, 7 stores, barn with lofts, additional barn, 4 stables, 2 tack rooms, dovecote, 6 greenhouses, potting shed, summer house, driveway, gardens, walled garden, lake, woodland

In all some 48 acres

Knapton Hall is a magnificent country house beautifully situated in the Derwent valley between the City of York and the Yorkshire coast. It was formerly the seat of Edward Tindall, ship builder, owner of the whole parish and lord of the manor, whose family name is remembered in the mounted plaques and pews within St Edmund’s Church, and it remained within the Tindall family for some 200 years. Part of the building is understood to date from the 1750s with the eastern wing being rebuilt a century later following a fire.

Read More - The Hall sits discreetly at the end of a long tree-lined drive looking out across its own well-timbered parkland gardens with far-reaching views to the Yorkshire Wolds. Formerly an extensive country estate of more than 1000 acres it has retained its extensive range of traditional buildings which include a church of Norman origins largely rebuilt by Victorian craftsmen. We understand that this building was acquired by the current owners in 2018 as a cultural monument and can be used for private functions.

Approached from the York to Scarborough road Knapton Hall’s carriage drive is guarded by wrought iron gates and terminates in a circular carriage sweep. A flight of stone steps, flanked by Italian stone balustrades, gives access to the grand front entrance under a handsome portico supported by twin Doric columns.

The principal house totals over 7800 sq ft and is notable for its high ceilings on the ground and first floors, elegant room proportions and fine architectural features: there is the original turning staircase with polished handrail; ornate ceiling plasterwork, cornicing and ceiling rose; traditional panelled doors with architraves; a number of fireplaces; and internal arches echoed by a magnificent window on the half landing. The primary living rooms are lined with deep sash windows that face the garden and parkland grounds, and two large bays span the full width of both the sitting room and principal bedroom suite. The house layout is well organised with the formal rooms to the front and domestic offices at the rear.

Flat 1 is attached to the northern wing of the principal house and provides over 3100 sq ft of ancillary accommodation arranged over two floors.

Outside - The house is set back behind its own parkland grounds with a shelterbelt of trees against the road and a long drive flagged by parkland railings leading to the front entrance. An additional service drive is accessed from East Knapton village. The parkland is generously scattered with a variety of mature trees including oak, scots pine, birch and copper beech, is part fenced and bounded by parkland railings. It is crossed by an east/west public footpath originating from the small village. Bands of mixed woodland lie on the eastern and northern flanks.

A flagged terrace lines the south and east elevations of the house with sheltered lawns at the rear, a summer house and space for a tennis court.

The walled garden sits behind the house flanked by traditional boiler-heated greenhouses with flourishing figs, grape, vines and peaches; alongside are two potting sheds and a store. This formal structured garden has clipped yew and box hedging, herbaceous borders, gravel pathways and espalier fruit trees against the high south facing wall.

To the north west of the house is the lake with its wooded islet. It is fed by a stream that runs through the parkland and is encircled by dense woodland underplanted with naturalised snowdrops.

Further land available

Further Outbuildings - Contiguous to the main house is the yard which is enclosed by an extensive range of traditional brick and tile farm buildings currently used for storage and garaging, bounded on the west by the walled garden. These buildings were rewired in 2021. Here can be found a total of five stables, two tack rooms and three stores as well as the large barn. An additional 31ft barn lies alongside the service drive more detail regarding its structure?

The outbuildings total over 17,000 sq ft

Flat 2/Separate Cottage - On the western wing of the property is a three bedroom cottage requiring renovation. A double garage with up and over doors facing the drive has been fitted within the original building.

Church - St Edmund’s Church dates back to Norman times and was originally adjacent to the Hall. After a fire in the mid 1800s it was re-built in its present location by John Gibson & Son of Malton. Traces from the original building can clearly be seen in the exterior stonework and gorgoyles. The present deconsecrated church dates largely from the early 1870s. It was purchased by the current owners as a Cultural Monument with covenants attached, including a significant one regarding any further development. Further details can be made available.

Environs - The small, rural village of East Knapton lies some fifteen minutes’ drive from the Georgian market town of Malton and some half an hour from the Yorkshire coast. The nearby village of Rillington has a public house and fish & chip shop, and Ganton Golf Club is a few miles up the A64. The local market town, Malton, is known as Yorkshire’s Food Capital and its artisan food producers and Food Lovers Festival have brought the town national acclaim. It has a wide range of amenities including excellent independent shops and cafes, good schooling, a sports centre, swimming pool, doctors’ surgery and cottage hospital. Malton Railway Station offers direct links to the mainline station at York – and on to Leeds, London, Liverpool and Manchester Airport. The York ring road with the shopping parks of Vangarde and Monks Cross can be comfortably reached within half an hour, Leeds within an hour. Knapton Hall is convenient for a wide choice of independent schools including a number within the City of York.

General - Offered with vacant possession
Tenure: Freehold
EPC rating: Principal House G rating, Flat 1 F rating, Flat 2/annexe E rating
Services & Systems: Oil central heating, Private drainage - two Klargester BioDisc domestic sewage treatment plants. Water supplied from a private spring on the wold on the other side of the A64.
Fixtures & Fittings: Only those mentioned in these sales particulars are included in the sale. All others, such as fitted carpets, curtains, light fittings, garden ornaments etc., are specifically excluded but may be made available by separate negotiation.
Viewing: Strictly by appointment
Local authority: Ryedale District Council
Directions: From York head east past Malton. Continue past Rillington, over the bridge at Scampston, passing the East Knapton village turning. Immediately on the left just beyond a bus stop are the wrought iron gates of Knapton Hall.

Photographs, particulars and showreel: May 2022
NB: Google map images may neither be current nor a true representation.



Marketed by: Blenkin & Co