A merry Christmas at medieval Markenfield Hall for the remarkable woman who helped restore it

It is a rare medieval manor house that has never been bothered by major alterations and so retains many remarkable original features.

The property sits in open countryside near Ripon and is tucked away down a long track. It is completely hidden from view until you turn into the courtyard where the moat and the crenellated facade demand that you stop and stare.

The first stone house on the site was built around 1230 and two of its vaulted rooms remain but the majority of the present property was constructed for John de Markenfield, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Edward II.

He was by all accounts an unpleasant individual but a house cannot choose its owner and the first stones were laid in the 13th century and the property was completed in the early 14th century

The Markenfield line continued during which time the house acted as one of the centres for The Rising of the North in 1569, a rebellion led by Catholic noblemen to depose the protestant Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.

Their endeavour failed and their actions seen as Treason, the punishment for which was confiscating Sir Thomas Markenfield’s home and land.

There were various subsequent owners over the ensuing centuries, during which time the hall was let to tenant farmers who had neither the time, funds or inclination to do much updating.

It was this that saved the house from “do’er uppers” and preserved its historic features. Among the most significant are the moat, the undercroft, the vaulted study, the Great Hall, the chapel and the solar.

A new dawn came in 1761 when Markenfield Hall was bought by Sir Fletcher Norton, a barrister known as “Sir Bull Face Double Fees”, who later became Lord Grantley, First Baron of Markenfield, a title still held by the family today.

He gained the satisfaction of settling an old score as he was related to Sir Richard Norton, a leading figure in the Battle of the North and uncle to Sir Thomas Markenfield.

Still, he continued to let the property and had the much grander Grantley Hall built for himself. Time and tenancies rolled on until Johnny Grantley, the 7th Lord Grantley, took a great interest in his inheritance of Markenfield Hall and vowed to restore it.

In the 1980s, he hired architect John Miller and took early retirement so he and his wife, Lady Deirdre, could devote time to the renovation of the 20-room house with a view to making it their home.

It was two years before the couple, who met while studying at Oxford, were able to move in.

Sadly, Lord Grantley passed away in 1995 but Lady Deidre continued their work and when she married her second husband, the writer Ian Curteis, he too embraced the restoration programme with gusto and in 2008 the hall won a Historic Houses Association award for the sterling work.

Like with all historic homes there are constant and expensive issues, mainly leaks, but Lady Deidre and the small but mighty team at Markenfield Hall, including administrator and Jill of all trades Sarah Robson, keep calm and carry on.

The property’s volunteers are a Godsend and include the Nidderdale AONB dry stone wallers who are re-walling on the land surrounding the house.

Fundraising for repairs is a must so there is income from events and small group tours of Markenfield Hall that run from March to the end of October and are by arrangement only.

They include enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteer guides, including Keith Jones, a former astro physicist with a passion for history who is a mine of information.

A new guide book has also been written on the property, aptly titled “Markenfield Hall, the loveliest place you’ve never heard of”. It also acts as an historical record of the house and its inhabitants.

Most notable is Caroline Norton, who married George Chapple Norton, and suffered dreadful abuse and violence at his hands.

He took her to court on a false charge of adultery, she was banned from seeing her children as she was not their parent in the eyes of the law and had no claim to the house or alimony.

A courageous and determined early feminist, she campaigned for divorced wives to be allowed to see their children and helped to make it easier for women to escape bad marriages and receive a financial settlement.

Caroline was instrumental in getting the Custody of Infants Act 1839 and the Married Women's Property Act of 1870 on the statute books.

She was a remarkable woman, as is Lady Deidre, who is the beating heart of Markenfield Hall, which is now beautifully and traditionally trimmed up ready for a family Christmas.

The property seems pleased and, unlike many large old houses, it has a warm and welcoming atmosphere even though its medieval walls let in the cold.

Sarah Robson says this is definitely down to Lady Deidre. “We have all noticed that when she is away it somehow seems to lose that feel.”

For more details on Markenfield Hall and its events and its tours by appointment next year visit www.markenfieldhall.com